Idaho Legislature considers Spanish-language insurance bill

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 Idaho Legislature considers Spanish-language insurance bill

Posted: Thursday, February 22, 2007

The House Business Committee Wednesday put a temporary hold on a bill that
would allow insurance companies to advertise their policies in foreign
languages but print the insurance contracts in English. Under current
Idaho law, insurance companies are not required to print brochures or
other advertising materials in Spanish or other languages, but if they
decide to do so they must have policies written in those languages.
Nuances and shades of meaning can sometimes get lost in translation, said
attorney Allyn Dingel, who spoke in favor of the bill. Having the policies
in English would make sure insurance companies aren't penalized for that.
I'm not an English-only person, but something has got to control, he said.

  But Clinton Minor of the Idaho Trial Lawyers Association argued that the
bill could erode consumers rights, particularly those of Hispanic
consumers. The Idaho Supreme Court held in Walston vs. Monumental Life
Insurance Co. that the description of an insurance product in an insurers
brochure is just as legally binding as the policy contract, Minor said. If
the brochure differs from the policy contract, the two documents are
combined into one policy and the document that promised the greater amount
of coverage is the one that is binding.  After that Supreme Court
decision, Minor said, it became easier for consumers to make sure they got
the coverage they paid for. They don't have to file a truth in advertising
lawsuit any more, he said. All they have to do is take out the brochure.

  But a sentence in the proposed bill states, Advertisement regarding an
insurance policy in languages other than English may not be construed to
modify the policy in the event of a dispute over the provisions of the
policy. That sentence seems to roll back consumer protections for people
who speak other languages, Minor said.  Dingel said that statement wouldn't
give insurers a free pass if they include blatant misrepresentations about
coverage in a Spanish-language brochure, since existing laws deal with
that. Misrepresentation is misrepresentation, he said.

  Rep. Branden Durst, D-Boise, questioned the point of including that
sentence if that's the case.  Dingel said the language was needed to keep
cases based on nuances of translation and interpretation out of the
courts.  Minor said it shouldn't be needed. He is bilingual, and about a
third of his clients speak Spanish. He said it isn't difficult to create a
brochure that isn't misleading and doesn't leave matters open to
interpretation.  The committee voted to take up the matter on Friday,
hoping by that time to get an opinion on the matter from the attorney
general.

http://www.idahobusiness.net/archive.htm/2007/02/22/Idaho-Legislature-considers-Spanishlanguage-insurance-bill
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