COMMISSIONER REDMER EXITS:

Maryland Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer has left his job to become chief executive officer of Coventry Health Care, a Delaware-based health insurance company. “It’s just a perfect opportunity,” Redmer said.

Gov. Robert Ehrlich named Deputy Commissioner James V. McMahan to serve as acting commissioner pending the selection of a permanent head of the Maryland Insurance Administration. Redmer, a member of the House of Delegates when he was appointed insurance commissioner two years ago, had 20 years experience in private health care before becoming commissioner. Redmer said the agency under his leadership took an active approach to educating consumers, resulting in a decline in the number of complaints. He was commissioner when Tropical Storm Isabel hit Maryland, and came under criticism at that time from some storm victims who thought the state was too slow to come to their aid. But Redmer listed his agency’s response to the storm as his greatest achievement. “We helped citizens collect millions of dollars they would otherwise not have collected,” he said.