According to a Charlotte Observer report, three Republicans are now running to unseat Democrat Wayne Goodwin as state insurance commissioner.
Goodwin, who has no primary opponents, is facing off against Mike Causey, Joe McLaughlin and Ronald Pierce to retain his position of regulating insurance companies and agents operating in North Carolina – a position made more difficult by the state’s recent troubles regarding the Affordable Care At.
Causey, the foremost Republican, is entering his fifth run for the position. He last ran in 2012, winning 48% of the vote to Goodwin’s 52%.
If elected, he hopes to attract more insurers to the state in order to increase consumer choice. He also favors allowing insurance companies to opt out of dealing with the NC Rate Bureau, which submits rate changes on behalf of insurers. The insurance commissioner then reviews the requests and decides whether to affirm the changes.
By removing this requirement, Causey says, insurers would be more willing to do business in North Carolina.
McLaughlin, a former Onslow County commissioner, is also running on a platform of increased competition.
“Part of the problem we have, especially in the healthcare arena, is we have a concentrated market,” he told the newspaper.
McLaughlin didn’t have any specific recommendations to increase competition, but also singled out the rate bureau as a problem. If elected, he says he will seek a review of the bureau to determine whether it’s the best system for providing the state with a competitive environment.
Pierce, the final candidate, says he is running for the position in part due to a 2014 arrest for fraud accusations brought against him by Goodwin’s office. Goodwin apparently announced that Pierce, owner of a Charlotte construction company, had been arrested on 108 fraud charges including inflating hail-damage repair estimates to homeowners.
Prosecutors later dismissed the charges, and Pierce detailed the experience in a book titled, “Pissed Off.” He claims the charges were brought against him in retaliation for criticizing insurance companies.
If elected, he wants to end what he considers a “revolving door” involving the insurance department and insurance companies by having every employee at the department sign non-compete contracts.
“This department of insurance is a governmental entity. It is for the citizens of North Carolina,” he said. “Right now, the way it’s being run, it is only for insurance companies.”
If any of the three are elected, it will be the first time the office has been held by a Republican since the state elected its first commissioner in 1899.
