The state's insurance companies want to raise auto insurance rates.

The North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents auto insurance companies, has requested a 1.4 percent increase of the statewide average for 2009.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin will review the request before he sets the state's rates, his office announced in a news release. The industry is currently fighting in court over a rate cut ordered by former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long who cut rates by 16.1 percent. 

If Goodwin and the insurers cannot agree on a rate, Goodwin will call for a hearing on the issue. The last hearing ended with the insurers taking the state to court. They disputed Long's cut and instead raised rates by 9.4 percent, according to Goodwin's release. 

The difference between what Long ordered and the rate insurers are charging has been placed in an account. The money would be paid to insurance customers if the state wins the court case, Goodwin said.

LONG GONE: The sudden death of longtime Insurance Commissioner Jim Long cast a shadow over the week. Legislators wore red tie stickers in his honor; others gave praise. Ironically, he was going to spend his retirement fighting for stroke prevention.

BILLS BILLS BILLS: Legislators pitched a flurry of new bills to expand sex ed options, extend public financing, teach about the 1898 race riots, require murder interrogations be videotaped, and reduce copays for chiropractors. Leaders will now seek to bury half and rewrite the rest.

SUPER FIGHT: Schools Superintendent June Atkinson threw down her glove. After remaining quiet while Gov. Beverly Perdue sought to pull even more power from her position, Atkinson demanded legislators to decide once and for all who runs the schools.

IN OTHER NEWS: A tough budget year hasn't stopped legislators from asking for more money. As of Thursday, special appropriations bills totaled $95 million, or about 5 percent of the $2 billion shortfall. ... Sen. Kay Hagan wants to limit CEOs getting federal bailout money to the same salary as President Obama. Watch for executives to start arguing the president is underpaid. ... State Sen. Steve Goss said he'd never had any trouble with blogs as he filed a bill that would make them more liable for libel. By the end of the day, bloggers rectified that.

A bill to require insurers to cover chiropractic services at the same rate as primary-care doctors has a tough climb.

Former House Speaker Jim Black included similar legislation in the 2005 budget, but legislators later stripped it when it was revealed that Black had received illegal cash payments totaling $30,000 from chiropractors.

In addition, insurance companies argue that it is more effective for people to see a primary-care doctor first and then, if necessary, get a referral. That practice puts chiropractors in the position of specialists who have a higher copayment. 

In 2007, Blue Cross officials estimated the change cost them $8 million in less than a year. But backers say they're hearing from constituents in favor of the move. 

"Chiropractors perform a valuable service," said Rep. Cullie Tarleton, a Democrat from Blowing Rock who sponsored the bill. "Even our U.S. Olympic teams have a chiropractor." (N&O)

A legislative study committee did not come up with a plan for beach insurance.

Instead, after months of effort, the committee decided to let the General Assembly decide whether and how much homeowners should pay to help bail out the Beach Plan if a major hurricane strikes.

The state-created plan offers insurance to coastal homeowners.

The committee also punted on the issue of whether insurers should have a cap on the amount they can be assesed for damages that go beyond the plan's financial resources.

It is recommending legislation that would limit Beach Plan homeowners' insurance coverage to a maximum of $750,000, half the current level.

The goal is to limit the Beach Plan's potential liability if a devastating storm occurs, although the committee couldn't put a dollar figure on how much the plan's liability would be reduced. (N&O)

Insurance premiums could rise in North Carolina to pay for storm-damaged beaches.

The N.C. Rate Bureau, an insurance company association that recommends insurance rates to the state commissioner, released a proposed increase on homeowners premiums by an average of 19.5 percent.

The rate jump would be higher on the coast, with potential increases of as much as 50 percent in the Outer Banks and 70 percent in coastal counties.

State Rep. Bruce Goforth, an Asheville Democrat who sits on a legislative committee that heard the proposal, objected to the idea that the rest of the state should pay higher insurance to help the owners of beachfront mansions.

"They've got th emoney to pay for the insurance they should be paying," he said.

Officials with the Rate Bureau said the proposed hikeis needed to stabilize the Beach Plan, a government-created insurance program that is the dominant coastal provider. (N&O) 

Doctors around the state say a rising fervor over illegal immigration may scare illegal immigrants away from seeking health care.

In Alamance County, a recent case where medical records may have been used to prosecute a library worker who was in the country illegally has prompted many doctors to speak out about what they see as a breach of doctor-patient trust.

"Whether you're legal or illegal, it's always been assumed that your medical information is private and can't be used against you," said Dr. Christopher Snyder III of Concord, president of the N.C. Academy of Family Physicians. "The doctor-patient relationship is sacred, and I'm not sure that has really been challenged until now. We're in uncharted territory."

Snyder said that if the trend continues, infectious diseases could spread, infant mortality could rise and emergency costs could increase.

Immigrants often have a high rate of infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and often do not have health insurance. (N&O) 

State driver's licenses have been restricted in the past decade.

In the late 1990s, a group of officials in Gov. Jim Hunt's administration worked with Latino leaders to address the problem of illegal immigrants driving on state roads.

Their solution was to expand the ways that the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles could determine residency, including accepting utility bills and lease agreements. The goal was to get immigrants to drive legally and get car insurance.

After the 9/11 attacks, concerns about security led lawmakers to turn instead to the Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, which is issued to anyone working in the U.S. regardless of immigration status.

Though that added a new hoop for some illegal immigrants to get a license, it did not make it impossible. Over the following three years, the DMV issued about 179,000 licenses to people who only had taxpayer ID numbers.

In 2004, the DMV went a step further. Facing concerns about fraud and identity theft, it stopped accepting the matricula consular, a form of identification issued by the Mexican government, among other foreign documents.

And in 2006, legislators ordered the agency to stop accepting taxpayer ID numbers, making it impossible for illegal immigrants to get a state driver's license. However, they stopped short of ordering a recall of older licenses issued with the numbers.

When those licenses expire, drivers will not be able to renew them.

With illegal immigration a hot-button issue in the U.S. Senate race, Dome has been looking at state Sen. Kay Hagan's record.

Although a number of bills have been filed in the legislature on the issue in recent years, the Senate's Democratic leadership has sent most to die in committee, so there are not many votes on record.

But one stands out. In 2006, the legislature voted to make it impossible for illegal immigrants to renew their driver's licenses.

Advocates and law enforcement officials say that many of the estimated 300,000 illegal immigrants in the state are now driving without licenses, failing to register cars or get auto insurance.

Hagan voted for the restrictions, although the bill took a circuitous path through the legislature.

More after the jump.

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Bob Orr wants to cut back on health insurance mandates.

On his Web site, the Republican gubernatorial candidate says North Carolina needs to reduce "excessive coverage mandates" to allow the market to work:

North Carolina has 46 coverage mandates (government dictated policy benefits) resulting in 41% higher premiums and preventing you from choosing a basic plan. We must reduce coverage mandates so that you can choose a basic plan that meets your health needs and does not include benefits that you do not need, like for example, coverage for a chiropractor.

As noted previously, North Carolina has 25 benefit mandates.

The state also requires coverage of 17 types of providers, including chiropractors, pastoral counselors and social workers; and six groups, including adopted children, handicapped dependents and newborns.

Orr later had a back-and-forth with health care advocate Adam Searing on The Progressive Pulse blog.

He recently noted on his campaign blog, More from Orr, that the discussion made him "go back and research the issue further."