D.C. Appleseed Center For Law and Justice, Inc v. District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking

Before FISHER and BLACKBURNE-RIGSBY, Associate Judges, and RUIZ, Senior Judge.*fn1

Petitioner D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, Inc. (Appleseed) seeks our review of the decision and order of the respondent, District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking (Department or DISB), determining that the 2008 surplus of intervenor, Group Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc. (GHMSI), was not “excessive” for purposes of the Hospital and Medical Services Corporation Regulatory Act of 1996, as amended by the Medical Insurance Empowerment Amendment Act of 2008, D.C. Act 17-704, 56 D.C. Reg. 1346 (2009), D.C. Code §§ 31-3501 to -3524 (2009 & Supp. 2010). Appleseed makes three principal arguments: (1) that the Commissioner incorrectly interpreted the relevant statutory language; (2) that the Commissioner failed to provide adequate reasons in support of the decision finding that the 2008 surplus was not excessive; and (3) that the Commissioner abused discretion in failing to order an immediate review of GHMSI’s 2009 and 2010 surpluses. GHMSI opposes these arguments and, in addition, contends that Appleseed does not have standing to seek judicial review of the Commissioner’s order. We conclude that Appleseed has standing to bring this petition. We also agree with Appleseed’s first two contentions, but we reject the third. We therefore affirm the Commissioner’s decision to defer review of GHMSI’s 2009 and 2010 surpluses until July 31, 2012, but reverse the Commissioner’s determination that GHMSI’s 2008 surplus was not unreasonably large or excessive, and remand the matter to the Commissioner for further proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.