New York Department "Floats" a Discussion Draft of Reg. 68 (Around New York‪)‬

I described the Property and Casualty Industry's Reg 68 proposal to the Department a few weeks ago and, at the time, I did not realize how timely that article would be. On November 24th the Department announced that it was issuing a "draft" of revised rules covering no-fault automobile insurance (Reg 68). This is not a formal promulgation, but the circulation of a number of changes that the Department has said would "help reduce fraud and abuse associated with no-fault claims, while making the no-fault system more user friendly." I believe that it is very unusual for the Department to publicly announce the issuance of a "draft" regulation. My experience has been that when the Department wants to float some regulatory ideas it will informally hand a draft regulation around to interested parties and seek input at a series of meetings. I imagine that the unusual public announcement may have something to do with the pressure being put on the Department to permit increases in auto insurance premiums, which the Department described in its newsletter as "skyrocketing". I can speak from personal experience that the Department is not a fun place to work when auto insurance rates are increasing--especially on the eve of an election year.