Delegate Mike Rogers urges bill to let converted insurers revert to mutual ownership

March 20, 2026 — The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony Wednesday on HB1616, a bill that would allow certain mutual insurance holding companies that have retained 100% ownership of a subsidiary’s stock to convert back to a single mutual insurer.

Sponsor Delegate Mike Rogers said the measure restores flexibility for companies that converted under Maryland’s 2000 Mutual Insurance Holding Companies Act and that it preserves policyholder control when outside investors have not purchased stock. "I respectfully request a favorable report of house bill 16 16," Rogers said.

The bill would add a statutory process allowing a mutual insurance holding company that directly or indirectly owns 100% of the capital stock of a stock insurer to reorganize back into a mutual insurer. Testimony described a three-part safeguard: a conversion plan adopted by the board of directors, approval by at least three-fourths of the insurer’s members, and review and approval by the Maryland Insurance Commissioner. The measure also authorizes the Insurance Commissioner to adopt implementing regulations.

Sarah Case Herron, representing Baltimore Life Insurance Company, told the committee Baltimore Life — founded in 1882 — supports HB1616 and that the company values the option to revert to its prior mutual form if warranted. "We believe it would be a benefit to our company and others to have the flexibility to potentially revert back to our original form of a simple mutual insurer," Herron said.

Committee members pressed witnesses on narrow eligibility and practical mechanics. Delegate Carden asked whether selling a single share would forever prevent reversion and whether buying that share back would restore eligibility; Brett Balzer, identified as a subject-matter expert from Funk & Bolton, responded that a company could convert back provided it had repurchased and maintained 100% ownership at the time of conversion. Committee members and witnesses agreed that only four companies have used the holding-company conversion in Maryland and that, in the current filings, Baltimore Life is the primary company that would meet the bill’s conditions.

Witnesses said the bill is intended as a technical fix rather than a substantive policy change: the reversion process mirrors the safeguards used when companies convert to mutual insurance holding companies. They also told the committee the Maryland Insurance Administration reviewed the bill and did not object.

The committee concluded the HB1616 hearing without a recorded committee vote. The sponsor and supporters said the bill is designed to preserve policyholder ownership while providing a clear statutory path for companies that have not sold stock to outside investors to return to a single mutual structure.