2011 Louisiana Laws
Revised Statutes
TITLE 22 — Insurance
RS 22:461 — Annual audit; rate review

§461. Annual audit; rate review

A. Each self-insurer shall cause to be conducted an annual audit by a licensed independent certified public accountant of its financial statements reporting the financial condition and results of operations of the self-insurer.

B. This Section shall apply to all self-insurers; however, a self-insurer having direct premiums in this state of less than two hundred fifty thousand dollars in any year and having less than five hundred policyholders in this state at the end of any year shall be exempt from this Section for such year unless the commissioner makes a specific finding that compliance is necessary for the commissioner to carry out statutory responsibilities.

C. The audit report required in this Section shall be filed with the commissioner on or before the thirtieth day of the sixth month following the year end of the self-insurer. Up to two thirty-day extensions may be granted by the commissioner upon showing by the self-insurer and its independent certified public accountant of the reasons for requesting such extension and upon determination by the commissioner of good cause for an extension. The request for extension shall be submitted in writing not less than ten days prior to the due date in sufficient detail to permit the commissioner to make an informed decision with respect to the requested extension.

D. The annual audited financial statement shall report the financial condition of the self-insurer as of the end of the most recent fiscal or calendar year and the results of its operations, changes in financial position, and changes in capital and surplus for the year then ended in conformity with statutory accounting practices prescribed, or otherwise permitted, by the Department of Insurance of the state of domicile of the self-insurer.

E. The annual audited financial report shall include the following:

(1) Report of independent certified public accountant.

(2) Balance sheet reporting admitted assets, liabilities, capital, and surplus.

(3) Statement of gain or loss from operations.

(4) State of cash flows.

(5) Statement of changes in capital and surplus.

(6) Notes to financial statements. These notes shall be those required by generally accepted accounting principles and shall include:

(a) A reconciliation of difference, if any, between the audited statutory financial statements and the annual statement filed pursuant to this Subpart with a written description of the nature of these differences.

(b) A narrative explanation of all significant intercompany transactions and balances.

(7) The financial statements included in the audited financial report shall be prepared in a form and using language and groupings substantially the same as the relevant sections of the annual statement of the insurer filed with the commissioner, and:

(a) The financial statement shall be comparative.

(b) Amounts may be rounded to the nearest thousand dollars.

(c) Insignificant amounts may be combined.

F. Financial statements furnished pursuant to this Section shall be audited by an independent certified public accountant. The audit of the self-insurer's financial statements shall be conducted in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards.

G. Every self-insurer required to file an audited financial report pursuant to this Subpart shall require the accountant to make available for review by the commissioner, the workpapers prepared in the conduct of his audit. The self-insurer shall require that the accountant retain the audit workpapers for a period of not less than five years after the period reported thereon.

H. In the conduct of the aforementioned review by the commissioner, photocopies of pertinent audit workpapers may be made and retained by the department. Such working papers or copies thereof obtained by the commissioner shall be confidential and shall not constitute a public record. The workpapers of a certified public accountant subject to maintenance and audit pursuant to this Section shall nonetheless remain the property of the certified public accountant.

I. With the commissioner's approval, a self-insurer may comply with this Subpart by filing the requisite reports which have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, provided that the notes to the financial statements include a reconciliation of differences between net income and capital and surplus on the annual statement filed pursuant to this and comparable totals on the audited financial statements, with a written description of the nature of these differences.

J. Repealed by Acts 2010, No. 794, §4.

Acts 1990, No. 902, §1; Acts 1992, No. 612, §1; Redesignated from R.S. 22:3011 by Acts 2008, No. 415, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 2009; Acts 2009, No. 503, §1; Acts 2010, No. 794, §4.