Should your insurance commissioner have more power?

An election in a major state highlights just how much power an insurance commissioner has—and whether or not it’s enough.

Insurance News

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A tight race for the California insurance commissioner post this November is shedding light on the role of the insurance commissioner and its power over the pocketbooks of state residents.
 
Incumbent democrat Dave Jones and challenger, republican state Sen. Ted Gaines, represent two starkly different views of the insurance commissioner. Jones, who was elected in 2010, wants to expand the commissioner’s powers to either approve or reject proposed health insurance rates based on whether they are deemed “excessive.”

Jones told the LA Times he believes the expanded powers will allow him to save consumers money and health insurance the same way he says he’s saved Californians money on auto and homeowners policies through increased regulation.

“I believe it’s important to regulate insurance companies,” he said, claiming to have saved policyholders $1.67 billion by restricting rate increases on various policies.

Gaines, meanwhile, wants to scale back the state’s involvement in rate-setting and carrier regulation to promote more free market competition in California. A former insurance agency owner, Gaines says control over health insurance rates would be giving the insurance commissioner too much power.

“We have to satisfy the needs of the customer,” Gaines told the Times.

In California, the Department of Insurance is particularly large. The 1,300-employee department licenses and regulates roughly 325,000 agents and hundreds of insurance companies. It also works to fight fraud, enforces state laws and regulations and resolve insurance-related complaints from the public.

The LA Times considers Jones the “early favorite” in the race, based on the high number of registered democrats, his incumbent status and his advantage in election fundraising. As of last month, he was currently leading Gaines 47% to 32%, with 21% of registered voters undecided in the election.

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