Politics Makes Things Better?

A Connecticut State Senator thinks things have become too chummy between the state’s insurers and the commissioner of the state’s insurance department. To fix it, he says he would like to make the commissioner’s office an elected position.

Senator Edward Meyer (D-Guilford) says he has been making the rounds in Hartford – also known as the Insurance City – over the last month, talking with the attorney general’s office as well as Democratic party leadership in the state, weighing whether there is enough support to make the change. If so, Meyer says he would like to introduce legislation this year to do so.

If it were to pass, Connecticut would become the only New England State with an elected commissioner. Among Northeast states, elected insurance chiefs are rare: Only Delaware has one.

The impetus for the change, Meyer said, is a sizable increase in health care premiums, all of which have been approved by Commissioner Thomas Sullivan. But Meyer also questions a number of other decisions made by Sullivan and his department over the last several years. Among them: rate hikes in medical malpractice premiums, approval of a requirement for coastal homeowners to install hurricane shutters and even the departments allowing one insurer to cancel policies for homeowners who have certain types of dogs.

Electing a commissioner would ensure the independence of the office, Meyer said. “An elected commissioner who would have to campaign for the spot would be more accountable,” Meyer said. Sullivan “comes right out of the insurance industry and appears to be a representative of the insurance industry and not citizens in the state… He is an arm of the insurance industry.”

It’s an accusation that has a unique reverberation in Central Connecticut, where the insurance industry is a major employer. It’s headquarters for The Hartford, the property/casualty division for Travelers, Aetna and a substantial portion of Cigna’s corporate offices, to name a few. Sullivan was a long-time executive at The Hartford before becoming insurance commissioner.

In response to Meyer’s accusations, Sullivan said that “rate review is serious business at the insurance department and we thoroughly review each filing while adhering to the actuarial standards of practice. We are regulators and have a multi-layered mission that prevents us from making decisions without actuarial evidence and data to support that decision.”

Sullivan also said that he supports “increased transparency, and we are currently collaborating with the proponents of legislation to increase transparency and public participation into our process while preserving the actuarial standards of practice.”

Topics Connecticut Market