State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_HB0223sam001

                                          SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1                     AMENDMENT TO HOUSE BILL 223
 2        AMENDMENT NO.     .  Amend House Bill 223 on page  1,  in
 3    line 1, by deleting "sales"; and
 4    on page 1, in line 5, before "changing", by inserting "adding
 5    Section 155.31 and"; and
 6    on page 1, below line 5, by inserting the following:
 7        "(215 ILCS 5/155.31 new)
 8        Sec.    155.31.  Insurance   compliance   self-evaluative
 9    privilege.
10        (a)  To  encourage  insurance   companies   and   persons
11    conducting  activities  regulated  under  this  Code, both to
12    conduct  voluntary  internal  audits  of   their   compliance
13    programs  and  management  systems  and to assess and improve
14    compliance  with  State  and  federal  statutes,  rules,  and
15    orders, an insurance compliance self-evaluative privilege  is
16    recognized  to  protect the confidentiality of communications
17    relating  to  voluntary  internal  compliance  audits.    The
18    General Assembly hereby finds and declares that protection of
19    insurance  consumers  is  enhanced  by  companies'  voluntary
20    compliance  with  this  State's  insurance and other laws and
21    that the public will benefit from incentives to identify  and
22    remedy  insurance and other compliance issues.  It is further
                            -2-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1    declared that limited expansion  of  the  protection  against
 2    disclosure  will  encourage  voluntary compliance and improve
 3    insurance market  conduct  quality  and  that  the  voluntary
 4    provisions  of  this Section will not inhibit the exercise of
 5    the regulatory authority by those entrusted  with  protecting
 6    insurance consumers.
 7        (b)(1)  An  insurance  compliance  self-evaluative  audit
 8    document  is  privileged information and is not admissible as
 9    evidence in any legal  action  in  any  civil,  criminal,  or
10    administrative  proceeding, except as provided in subsections
11    (c) and (d)  of  this  Section.   Documents,  communications,
12    data,  reports, or other information created as a result of a
13    claim involving personal injury or workers' compensation made
14    against an insurance  policy  are  not  insurance  compliance
15    self-evaluative   audit   documents  and  are  admissible  as
16    evidence  in  civil  proceedings  as  otherwise  provided  by
17    applicable rules of evidence or civil procedure,  subject  to
18    any  applicable  statutory or common law privilege, including
19    but  not  limited  to  the   work   product   doctrine,   the
20    attorney-client   privilege,   or   the  subsequent  remedial
21    measures exclusion.
22        (2)  If  any  company,  person,  or  entity  performs  or
23    directs the performance of an insurance compliance audit,  an
24    officer  or  employee  involved with the insurance compliance
25    audit, or any consultant who is  hired  for  the  purpose  of
26    performing   the  insurance  compliance  audit,  may  not  be
27    examined in any civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding
28    as  to  the  insurance  compliance  audit  or  any  insurance
29    compliance self-evaluative audit document, as defined in this
30    Section.  This  subsection  (b)(2)  does  not  apply  if  the
31    privilege set forth in subsection (b)(1) of this  Section  is
32    determined under subsection (c) or (d) not to apply.
33        (3)  A company may voluntarily submit, in connection with
34    examinations  conducted  under  this  Article,  an  insurance
                            -3-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1    compliance self-evaluative audit document to the Director, or
 2    his  or  her  designee,  as  a  confidential  document  under
 3    subsection  (f) of Section 132.5 of this Code without waiving
 4    the privilege set forth in this Section to which the  company
 5    would  otherwise  be  entitled;  provided,  however, that the
 6    provisions in subsection (f) of Section 132.5 permitting  the
 7    Director  to  make  confidential documents public pursuant to
 8    subsection (e) of Section 132.5 and access  to  the  National
 9    Association of Insurance Commissioners shall not apply to the
10    insurance   compliance   self-evaluative  audit  document  so
11    voluntarily submitted.  Nothing contained in this  subsection
12    shall  give the Director any authority to compel a company to
13    disclose involuntarily  or  otherwise  provide  an  insurance
14    compliance self-evaluative audit document.
15        (c)(1)  The privilege set forth in subsection (b) of this
16    Section  does  not  apply  to the extent that it is expressly
17    waived by the company that prepared or caused to be  prepared
18    the insurance compliance self-evaluative audit document.
19        (2)  In  a civil or administrative proceeding, a court of
20    record may, after an in camera review, require disclosure  of
21    material  for which the privilege set forth in subsection (b)
22    of this Section is asserted, if the court determines  one  of
23    the following:
24             (A)  the  privilege  is  asserted  for  a fraudulent
25        purpose;
26             (B)  the material is not subject to  the  privilege;
27        or
28             (C)  even  if subject to the privilege, the material
29        shows evidence of noncompliance with  State  and  federal
30        statutes,  rules  and  orders  and  the company failed to
31        undertake reasonable corrective action or  eliminate  the
32        noncompliance within a reasonable time.
33        (3)  In  a  criminal  proceeding,  a court of record may,
34    after an in camera review, require disclosure of material for
                            -4-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1    which the privilege  described  in  subsection  (b)  of  this
 2    Section  is  asserted,  if  the  court  determines one of the
 3    following:
 4             (A)  the privilege  is  asserted  for  a  fraudulent
 5        purpose;
 6             (B)  the material is not subject to the privilege;
 7             (C)  even  if subject to the privilege, the material
 8        shows evidence of noncompliance with  State  and  federal
 9        statutes,  rules  and  orders  and  the company failed to
10        undertake reasonable corrective action or eliminate  such
11        noncompliance within a reasonable time; or
12             (D)  the  material  contains  evidence  relevant  to
13        commission of a criminal offense under this Code, and all
14        of the following factors are present:
15                  (i)  the   Director,   State's   Attorney,   or
16             Attorney  General  has  a  compelling  need  for the
17             information;
18                  (ii)  the   information   is   not    otherwise
19             available; and
20                  (iii)  the   Director,   State's  Attorney,  or
21             Attorney General is unable to obtain the substantial
22             equivalent of the information by any  means  without
23             incurring unreasonable cost and delay.
24        (d)(1)  Within   30  days  after  the  Director,  State's
25    Attorney, or Attorney General  makes  a  written  request  by
26    certified  mail  for  disclosure  of  an insurance compliance
27    self-evaluative audit document  under  this  subsection,  the
28    company  that  prepared or caused the document to be prepared
29    may file with the appropriate court a petition requesting  an
30    in   camera  hearing  on  whether  the  insurance  compliance
31    self-evaluative audit document or portions  of  the  document
32    are  privileged  under this Section or subject to disclosure.
33    The court has jurisdiction over a petition filed by a company
34    under this subsection requesting  an  in  camera  hearing  on
                            -5-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1    whether   the   insurance  compliance  self-evaluative  audit
 2    document or  portions  of  the  document  are  privileged  or
 3    subject  to  disclosure.   Failure  by  the company to file a
 4    petition waives the privilege.
 5        (2)  A  company  asserting   the   insurance   compliance
 6    self-evaluative  privilege  in  response  to  a  request  for
 7    disclosure under this subsection shall include in its request
 8    for  an in camera hearing all of the information set forth in
 9    subsection (d)(5) of this Section.
10        (3)  Upon the filing of a petition under this subsection,
11    the court shall issue an order  scheduling,  within  45  days
12    after  the  filing  of  the petition, an in camera hearing to
13    determine whether the  insurance  compliance  self-evaluative
14    audit  document  or  portions  of the document are privileged
15    under this Section or subject to disclosure.
16        (4)  The court, after an in camera  review,  may  require
17    disclosure  of material for which the privilege in subsection
18    (b) of this Section is  asserted  if  the  court  determines,
19    based  upon  its  in  camera  review,  that  any  one  of the
20    conditions set forth in subsection (c)(2)(A) through  (C)  is
21    applicable as to a civil or administrative proceeding or that
22    any  one  of the conditions set forth in subsection (c)(3)(A)
23    through (D) is applicable as to a criminal proceeding.   Upon
24    making  such  a  determination, the court may only compel the
25    disclosure of  those  portions  of  an  insurance  compliance
26    self-evaluative  audit document relevant to issues in dispute
27    in the underlying proceeding. Any compelled  disclosure  will
28    not  be considered to be a public document or be deemed to be
29    a waiver of the privilege for any other civil,  criminal,  or
30    administrative  proceeding.   A party unsuccessfully opposing
31    disclosure may apply to the court for  an  appropriate  order
32    protecting the document from further disclosure.
33        (5)  A   company   asserting   the  insurance  compliance
34    self-evaluative  privilege  in  response  to  a  request  for
                            -6-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1    disclosure under this subsection (d)  shall  provide  to  the
 2    Director,  State's Attorney, or Attorney General, as the case
 3    may  be,  at  the  time  of  filing  any  objection  to   the
 4    disclosure, all of the following information:
 5             (A)  The    date   of   the   insurance   compliance
 6        self-evaluative audit document.
 7             (B)  The  identity  of  the  entity  conducting  the
 8        audit.
 9             (C)  The general nature of the activities covered by
10        the insurance compliance audit.
11             (D)  An  identification  of  the  portions  of   the
12        insurance  compliance  self-evaluative audit document for
13        which the privilege is being asserted.
14        (e) (1)  A company  asserting  the  insurance  compliance
15    self-evaluative privilege set forth in subsection (b) of this
16    Section  has the burden of demonstrating the applicability of
17    the  privilege.  Once   a   company   has   established   the
18    applicability  of  the  privilege, a party seeking disclosure
19    under subsections (c)(2)(A) or (C) of this  Section  has  the
20    burden  of  proving  that  the  privilege  is  asserted for a
21    fraudulent purpose or that the company  failed  to  undertake
22    reasonable  corrective  action or eliminate the noncompliance
23    with a reasonable time. The Director,  State's  Attorney,  or
24    Attorney  General  seeking disclosure under subsection (c)(3)
25    of this Section has the burden of proving  the  elements  set
26    forth in subsection (c)(3)of this Section.
27        (2)  The parties may at any time stipulate in proceedings
28    under  subsections  (c) or (d) of this Section to entry of an
29    order directing that specific  information  contained  in  an
30    insurance  compliance self-evaluative audit document is or is
31    not subject to the privilege provided under subsection (b) of
32    this Section.
33        (f)  The privilege set forth in subsection  (b)  of  this
34    Section shall not extend to any of the following:
                            -7-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1             (1)  documents,  communications,  data,  reports, or
 2        other information required to  be  collected,  developed,
 3        maintained,  reported,  or  otherwise made available to a
 4        regulatory agency pursuant to this Code, or other federal
 5        or State law, rule, or order;
 6             (2)  information   obtained   by   observation    or
 7        monitoring by any regulatory agency; or
 8             (3)  information  obtained from a source independent
 9        of the insurance compliance audit.
10        (g)  As used in this Section:
11             (1)  "Insurance compliance audit" means a voluntary,
12        internal evaluation, review,  assessment,  or  audit  not
13        otherwise  expressly  required  by law of a company or an
14        activity regulated under this Code,  or  other  State  or
15        federal  law  applicable  to  a company, or of management
16        systems related to  the  company  or  activity,  that  is
17        designed  to  identify  and  prevent noncompliance and to
18        improve compliance with those statues, rules, or  orders.
19        An  insurance  compliance  audit  may be conducted by the
20        company, its employees, or by independent contractors.
21             (2)  "Insurance  compliance  self-evaluative   audit
22        document"  means  documents prepared as a result of or in
23        connection with and not prior to an insurance  compliance
24        audit.  An  insurance  compliance  self-evaluation  audit
25        document  may  include a written response to the findings
26        of  an  insurance   compliance   audit.    An   insurance
27        compliance  self-evaluative  audit  document may include,
28        but is not limited to, as  applicable,  field  notes  and
29        records of observations, findings, opinions, suggestions,
30        conclusions,  drafts,  memoranda,  drawings, photographs,
31        computer-generated     or     electronically     recorded
32        information, phone records,  maps,  charts,  graphs,  and
33        surveys,   provided   this   supporting   information  is
34        collected or developed for the primary purpose and in the
                            -8-           SRS90HB0223MNbmam01
 1        course of an insurance compliance  audit.   An  insurance
 2        compliance   self-evaluative   audit  document  may  also
 3        include any of the following:
 4                  (A)  an  insurance  compliance   audit   report
 5             prepared  by  an  auditor, who may be an employee of
 6             the company or an independent contractor, which  may
 7             include  the  scope  of  the  audit, the information
 8             gained   in   the   audit,   and   conclusions   and
 9             recommendations, with exhibits and appendices;
10                  (B)  memoranda and documents analyzing portions
11             or of all of the insurance compliance  audit  report
12             and discussing potential implementation issues;
13                  (C)  an   implementation  plan  that  addresses
14             correcting  past  noncompliance,  improving  current
15             compliance, and preventing future noncompliance; or
16                  (D)  analytic data generated in the  course  of
17             conducting the insurance compliance audit.
18             (3)  "Company"  has  the same meaning as provided in
19        Section 2 of this Code.
20        (h)  Nothing in  this  Section  shall  limit,  waive,  or
21    abrogate  the  scope or nature of any statutory or common law
22    privilege including, but not limited  to,  the  work  product
23    doctrine,  the  attorney-client  privilege, or the subsequent
24    remedial measures exclusion.
25    on page 3, below line 9, by inserting the following:
26        "Section 99. Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
27    becoming law.".

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