This bill creates a new Washington travel insurance act by adding a new chapter to Title 48 RCW, adds a new section to chapter 48.30 RCW, and amends RCW 48.17.060 and RCW 48.43.005. The new chapter establishes a comprehensive regulatory framework for travel insurance and travel protection plans sold to state residents, defines key terms (including travel insurance, travel protection plans, travel retailers, travel administrators, blanket and group travel insurance), and declares that where this chapter conflicts with other Title 48 provisions about travel insurance, the new chapter controls. Substantive legal changes include new licensing, registration, and procedural rules: the insurance commissioner may issue a limited lines travel insurance producer license and prescribe application form and requirements; travel retailers may offer travel insurance only when registered by a licensed limited lines producer; limited lines producers must keep and annually submit a prescribed register of travel retailers, designate a licensed employee responsible for compliance, require training and fingerprinting for specified officers/employees, and certify compliance with 18 U.S.C. §1033. The act imposes required disclosures and fulfillment materials to purchasers, gives policyholders a minimum cancellation/refund period after delivery of materials, prohibits opt-out/negative option offerings and marketing blanket coverage as “free,” and makes it an unfair trade practice to offer or sell a travel insurance policy that could never result in payment of any claim. Grounds for suspension, revocation, and penalties under RCW 48.17.530 and 48.17.535 apply to limited lines producers and travel retailers. The bill also addresses tax, filing, and supervisory matters: travel insurers must pay premium tax under RCW 48.14.020 on premiums from resident policyholders and report only amounts allocable to insurance (excluding noninsurance services), travel insurance coverage may be filed under either an accident and health line or an inland marine line but each product only under one line, and the commissioner may adopt implementing rules and repeal inconsistent rules. The act amends adjuster licensing rules in RCW 48.17.060 to require licensing generally but exempts a travel administrator and its employees from certain adjuster licensing requirements for the travel insurance it administers; it also amends RCW 48.43.005 to add definitions used in that chapter. Sections 1 through 13 of the act take effect January 1, 2027. Certain provisions are missing or incomplete in the provided text: the full text of section 3(2)(a)(iv) is cut off, section 4 (premium tax and related provisions) is referenced but not fully shown, specific language of the amendments to RCW 48.17.060 and RCW 48.43.005 is not fully included, section 12 is cited but not fully reproduced, and other definitions and later sections are not visible here, so some procedural and tax details cannot be fully described from the extracted facts alone.

If enacted, the bill creates a new, state-specific regulatory regime for travel insurance that will require travel insurers, limited lines travel insurance producers, travel administrators, and travel retailers to obtain specified licenses or registrations, maintain annual registers of retailers, provide consumer disclosures, and meet training, fingerprinting, and certification requirements. Insurers and producers will face new compliance costs and operational responsibilities: filing and maintaining retailer lists, providing or overseeing required training, documenting policyholder residency for premium tax purposes, separating noninsurance components from insurance premiums, and accepting a statutory short cancellation/refund window (at least 15 days by mail or 10 days otherwise). Producers are liable for the acts of the travel retailers they register, and existing suspension/penalty rules apply, increasing enforcement risk for businesses that fail to comply. Consumers should see stronger disclosure, refund, and bundling protections (travel protection plans may be sold for one price only if components are clearly disclosed and fulfillment materials provided), while travel insurance will no longer be treated as a “health plan” beginning January 1, 2027, which likely removes some health-plan regulatory constraints from these products. The act also imposes premium tax reporting and collection responsibilities on insurers for Washington resident purchasers. Key details needed to fully estimate fiscal impacts—certain registration and penalty specifics, some disclosure items, the premium tax mechanics referenced in section 4, and other truncated provisions—are not included in the extracted text and make the exact compliance burden and revenue effects somewhat uncertain.