Best’s News & Research Service - October 26, 2016 11:28 AM (EDT)
Two Incumbents Try to Retain Insurance Commissioner Posts; Candidates Battle for Open Jobs in Three States
WASHINGTON //BestWire// - Voters on Election Day will determine whether two incumbent commissioners will keep their insurance commissioner posts for another term and will fill three other commissioners’ jobs with new occupants. Colorado voters will also determine whether the state’s residents should finance a $25 billion single-payer health care system.
In North Carolina, Democrat incumbent Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin is seeking re-election to a third term in a commissioner’s race against Republican candidate Mike Causey, whom Goodwin narrowly defeated in 2012.
Goodwin told Best’s News Service the condition of the state’s health insurance market has been a dominant theme, even as the state saw damage from Hurricane Matthew and a settlement agreement with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina that resulted in a $3.6 million fine, the largest in state history.
Causey, an insurance agency owner, is making his fifth run for commissioner. Causey’s campaign website says he wants to bring more insurance industry competition into the state, make the insurance department more transparent for consumers and eliminate the North Carolina Rate Bureau that files automobile, property and workers’ compensation rates on behalf of insurers.
Goodwin received more than $732,000 in this race from individual contributors compared with $30,030 for Causey, according to the State Board of Elections. In March, Goodwin received $5,000 from the North Carolina Association of Health Underwriters.
In Washington state, Democratic incumbent Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler will try to extend his title as the nation’s longest-tenured commissioner against Republican Richard Schrock. Kreidler listed health care reform progress and a commitment to consumer protection as his priorities.
Schrock has been critical of rising health insurance rates he said are projected to rise 19% in 2017. He has pledged he will fight unjustified premium increases while limiting both deductible and co-pays. Public Disclosure Commission files show Kreidler with a big edge in finances, having raised $123,134.19 to Schrock’s $4,940.05. Kreidler eceived a pair of $500 contributions from officials at Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Co. and another $500 from an officer at health insurance provider Simple Health Plans.
In Delaware, two-term incumbent Karen Weldin Stewart was upset in the Democratic primary race by Trinidad Navarro (Best’s News Service, Sept. 14, 2016). Navarro, a former licensed life insurer who is the current New Castle County sheriff, faces Republican candidate Jeff Cragg, a 24-year insurance industry veteran who narrowly won his primary race.
Navarro has campaigned against the state’s high health insurance and automobile insurance rates — the latter being the nation’s fourth-highest. Navarro’s campaign website says in his first 100 days he will conduct a review of the office’s policies and procedures. Also, he said he will end use of gender and credit scores in rate setting. And he said he would work with insurers to lower workers’ comp premiums.
Cragg’s campaign said Delaware regulations need to put consumers first and said he wants to tackle increasing health insurance and workers’ comp rates. The new 2016 Oregon Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking Summary showed Delaware with the nation’s sixth-highest workers’ comp ranking.
Navarro held a lead in campaign contributions, having raised $64,976.94 and still had $40,445.67 in hand as of Oct. 9. Cragg had raised $4,505.48 and had $2,710.22 in hand as of that date, according to state election filing reports online.
There’s a three-candidate race in North Dakota, where Republican candidate Jon Godfread, Democrat Ruth Buffalo and Libertarian Nick Bata will attempt to gain the open post currently held by Adam Hamm.
Godfread told Best’s News Service if elected, he will look to make a few changes in state law and “change the mindset of the department of being open for business.” Godfread said North Dakota regulators will have to deal with future changes in the area of unmanned vehicles and in dealing with the use of unmanned aerial drones. If elected, insurers should know that his office will be open to them. “Every other agency does a great job with public-private partnerships and we’re signaling that we’re willing to do that as well,” he said.
Buffalo’s campaign website said she hopes to increase access to behavioral health services and to form a stronger partnership with the state’s workforce and safety insurance. Earlier this year, she was considering ways for the state insurance department to provide quality service. If Buffalo wins, she would be the first Native American to hold the office.
Bata told Best’s News Service earlier this year he wants the entire insurance market to be unregulated and he would prefer the insurance commissioner job not exist because regulation of private industry costs jobs and harms small businesses. He also opposes the Affordable Care Act, saying it forces insurers to take losses that are passed on to low-risk groups and loss of coverage for some.
As of Oct. 7, Godfread had received $74,404.70 in campaign contributions, compared with Buffalo’s $39,184.55 and none for Bata, according to Secretary of State voting contribution records.
In Montana, Republican candidate Matthew Rosendale and Democrat Jesse Laslovich are vying for the open post currently held by Monica Lindeen, who by law could not run for another term. Laslovich has been the chief legal counsel in the auditor’s office for the past seven years.
Rosendale has campaigned against the ACA, attacking premium increases in Montana. He said Montana consumers also pay the nation’s second-highest auto rates and the 10th-highest workers’ comp rates. “Let’s start having a conversation about what’s driving costs,” he said. “Turning our whole system over to the government is not working out well.”
Earlier this year, Laslovich also told Best’s News Service Montana must examine what is driving health care costs, including those charged to some patients for non-emergency services, and he said insurers should provide incentives for policyholders to seek high-quality care. He also said he hoped to pass legislation to end out-of-network health care costs that occur after emergencies.
Through Sept. 26, Laslovich had a solid edge in financial contributions, $258,742.96 to Rosendale’s $73,532. State election filings show both candidates received $150 from the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, but Laslovich also received $700 from Allstate Insurance Co.
In Colorado, voters will decide whether to back Amendment 69, which would create a $25 billion single-payer health initiative for the state. According to Ballotpedia, polls show the initiative is headed to defeat, as fewer than 30% of those polled support the measure.
Anthem, Inc. and United HealthCare Services Inc. have donated $1.45 million to the an opposition group, Coloradans for Coloradans, which has received more than $4 million in contributions. It claims the measure would double the state budget. The new ColoradoCare would be run by a 21-member board of trustees who would be unaccountable to the governor and lawmakers, opponents charge.
(By Thomas Harman, Washington Bureau manager, BestWeek: Tom.Harman@ambest.com)