The Albany Business Review covers a recent lawsuit by the trade association for New York health plans:
The New York Health Plan Association has joined the New York Insurance Association Inc. in suing New York state over what is says are illegal assessments on insurance companies to fund agencies unrelated to insurance.The suit, which NYIA filed in State Supreme Court in Albany on Jan. 13, challenges the levy on insurers known as the 332 assessment and how the funds are used. By state law, the assessments are to be used only for the operating expenses of the New York State Department of Insurance, but are increasingly being used for other purposes.
HPA's press release from January 26 provides some more detail:
Since 2000-2001, DOI’s budget has more than quadrupled and the amount of sub-allocations has increased by more than 22 times. Of DOI’s $555.5 million budget for the 2009-2010 State Fiscal year, only $138 million represented actual operating expenses.