The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) elected four officers for 2005 during the NAIC Winter meeting in New Orleans, including a newly created position of president-elect to effectively serve a two-year term that transitions into the presidency.
Members elected Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Diane Koken as NAIC president, Maine Insurance Superintendent Alessandro Iuppa as president-elect, Oregon Insurance Administrator Joel Ario as vice president, and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger as secretary-treasurer.
“Perhaps now more than ever state insurance regulation is garnering a great deal of attention, which clearly presents us with a tremendous opportunity to reinforce the considerable effectiveness of state-based insurance regulation,” Koken said, who recently was named as chair of the NAIC Executive Task Force on Broker Activities.
An active member of the NAIC, Koken currently serves on several key committees, including the Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee, where she is chair; the Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee; the Financial Condition Committee; the Government Affairs Task Force and the Speed to Market Task Force. She also is a member of the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) Board of Directors. Koken’s tenure as Pennsylvania insurance commissioner began in August 1997, when former Gov. Tom Ridge appointed her acting commissioner. The Pennsylvania Senate confirmed Koken in December 1997, in February 1999, and in April 2003. Prior to her state service, she was vice president, general counsel and secretary for a major life insurer.
Iuppa was appointed Maine’s superintendent of insurance in 1998 and was re-appointed to a second term in March 2004. He is chair of the NAIC’s Reinsurance Task Force and vice chair of the Capital Adequacy Task Force. At the 2004 International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) Annual Meeting, Iuppa was elected to serve a two-year term as chair of the IAIS Executive Committee. Prior to joining the Maine Bureau of Insurance, Iuppa provided consulting services to state insurance departments for the rehabilitation of financially impaired insurance companies. From 1986 to 1991, he was with the state of Nevada, where he served as deputy commissioner and commissioner of insurance.
Ario currently is vice chair of the Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee and chairs the NAIC’s Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee and the Statistical Information Task Force. He also serves on the Government Affairs Task Force and the Speed to Market Task Force and chairs the NIPR Board of Directors. Ario has been with the Oregon Insurance Division since 1995, where he has served as insurance administrator since 2000. Previously, he was a public policy analyst and executive director in the non-profit sector.
Praeger chairs the Health Insurance and Managed Care Committee and serves as vice chair for the NAIC Midwestern Zone, the Government Affairs Task Force, and the Privacy Issues Working Group. Praeger was elected as Kansas’ 24th Commissioner of Insurance on Nov. 2, 2002, and began serving in the position on Jan. 13, 2003. She was elected previously to the Kansas Senate in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and before that served one term in the Kansas House of Representatives.
Topics Legislation Pennsylvania Kansas Maine
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