On the heels of the Kansas Legislature’s recent adoption of Senate Bill No. 22 regarding third party administrators, the Kansas Insurance Department issued Bulletin 2017-2 to identify the states the Department has determined have substantially similar third party administrator laws to Kansas. 

Kansas Senate Bill No. 22 announced a change regarding how the Department will issue initial and renewal licenses for nonresident third party administrators in Kansas. Pursuant to Senate Bill No. 22, a person (an individual or business entity) that performs the duties of an administrator in Kansas must hold either a resident or a nonresident license.  A person is not eligible for a nonresident administrator license unless the person is licensed as a resident administrator in a home state that has a third party administrator law or regulation substantially similar to Kansas.

Bulletin 2017-2 was signed by Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer on May 2nd, and the Bulletin states that the Department conducted a review of all TPA laws in the U.S. to determine which states’ TPA laws are substantially similar to Kansas’ TPA laws. As a result of its review, the Department has concluded that only the following eight states have TPA laws that are substantially similar to the Kansas law:

• Alaska

• Delaware

• Florida

• Idaho

• Indiana

• Missouri

• New Hampshire

• West Virginia

Bulletin 2017-2 indicates that beginning June 1, 2017, the Department will not renew nonresident administrator licenses for nonresident administrators holding resident licenses in states other than these eight states.

Bulletin 2017-2 also provides that beginning January 1, 2018, resident and nonresident administrators holding licenses in Kansas will need to renew their licenses on a biennial basis. The first biennial renewal will be due by December 31, 2018. Also, every administrator will be required to file annual reports with the Department on or before July 1 of each year, with the first annual report due on or before July 1, 2018.