HB 211 Alaska House · 34th Legislature (2025-2026)

An Act relating to prepaid legal plans.

HB 211 exempts prepaid legal plans from standard insurance regulations in Alaska. The bill defines a "prepaid legal plan" as an arrangement where members pay upfront for specific legal services, the provider contracts directly with attorneys at fixed rates, and attorneys do not receive additional payments for services provided. This directly affects prepaid legal service organizations and their members by removing them from the state's insurance regulatory framework. The key mechanism is a clear statutory exclusion, ensuring these plans operate outside typical insurance licensing and oversight requirements. The bill focuses on clarifying regulatory scope rather than creating new obligations.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Apr 2025

Committee Review

May 2026

House Passage

May 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Apr 30, 2025 Last action May 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons

What changed between versions

CSHB 211(JUD) → CSHB 211(L&C) · 4 edits

MODERATE

The bill was transferred from the Judiciary Committee to the Labor and Commerce Committee, resulting in a significant restructuring of the prepaid legal plan regulations. The most important change is the addition of consumer protections that prohibit plans from charging fees after a member cancels and banning penalties for disenrollment. The text also clarifies the advertising rules to prevent misleading claims about insurance coverage or guaranteed outcomes.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded to include specific consumer protection mandates regarding cancellation fees and penalties, which were not explicitly detailed in the previous version.

REQUIREMENT

Added a prohibition on requiring members to pay for services after they request to cancel the plan.

Added a ban on imposing penalties when a member disenrolls from the prepaid legal plan.

Restructured the advertising and disclosure requirements to clearly separate prohibitions on misleading ads from the mandatory disclosure list.

TECHNICAL

Updated committee attribution from Judiciary to Labor and Commerce and adjusted the bill's effective date.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 13, 2026

Committee

(S) JUD REFERRAL ADDED AFTER L&C

upper

May 4, 2026

Committee

(S) REFERRED TO LABOR & COMMERCE

upper

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) TRANSMITTED TO (S)

lower

May 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) PASSED Y33 N4 E3

lower

Apr 30, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) L&C CS ADOPTED UC

lower

Apr 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) Moved CSHB 211(L&C) Out of Committee

lower

Mar 11, 2026

Lower · Passed

(H) Moved CSHB 211(JUD) Out of Committee -- Delayed to 5 minutes Following Session --

lower

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor