Ins and outs on Beacon Mutual board

Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri suffered at least a temporary setback in his campaign to fire two Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. board members but has managed to replace one other director who resigned.

Superior Court Judge Steven Forunato has temporarily restrained until further consideration Carcieri’s order removing George Nee and Henry Boeniger from the embattled workers’ compensation carrier’s board of directors.

Carcieri, who has been pressuring to reconstitute the insurer’s board and management following an audit that revealed possible mismanagement, wasted no time in expressing his displeasure. “This decision is bad news for Beacon Mutual, its policyholders, and the people of Rhode Island,” he claimed.

Nee, a labor representative, and Boeniger, a teachers’ union lobbyist and former Democratic state representative, both of whom were appointed to the board by previous governors, have resisted Carcieri’s efforts to replace them on the insurer’s board.

Carcieri moved to terminate Nee and Boeniger following the release of an audit by the Almond Review Committee that alleged that the company gave favored pricing and treatment to certain policyholders, including some with ties to management and directors.

After release of the Almond report, the chief executive officer and vice president of claims were terminated.

Meanwhile, Carcieri got his wish when another director resigned. John Holmes, who runs a government relations firm and is a past chairman of the state Republican Party, agreed to step down from the Beacon board, despite the fact he was not on the board during most of the period of business practices criticized in a recent audit.

Another board member, Edward Braks, resigned the day the Almond report was released. Also, the former chairman of the board, Sheldon Sollosy, left the company late last year when an anonymous tipster raised questions about his company’s account.

Carcieri quickly named the president of Salve Regina University, Sister Therese Antone, Ed. D., to replace Holmes. A native of Rhode Island, Antone has serv-ed on numerous boards, including the Finance Council of the Diocese of Providence, Blue Hen Investment Company, AAA Southern New England, BankNewport and Lifespan Corporation.

“[As] someone who has devoted her life to serving her community as a Catholic nun, Sister Therese’s ethics are above question,” Carcieri commented.

State law requires that all board members be Beacon Mutual policyholders. Salve Regina holds a Beaconpolicy that currently covers 482 employees.

The insurer’s board consists of four members appointed by the governor, three representing policyholders, the director of the Department of Labor and Training, and the company’s chief executive officer.

In related news, the Rhode Island Department of Business Regulation is weighing a Beacon Mutual rate filing that would reduce overall loss costs by -27.7 percent from the currently approved level which has been in effect since March, 1999. If approved, the revised loss costs would be effective June 1, 2006.