35 Insurance Consumer Representatives Named as NAIC Liaisons
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently named 35 consumer liaison representatives for 2016.
The 20 funded and 15 unfunded consumer representatives began their terms Jan. 1, 2016. Funded representatives receive travel expense reimbursement from the NAIC; unfunded representatives pay their own expenses.
Established in 1992, the liaison program provides promotes consumer advocates an opportunity to interact with the state insurance departments that are NAIC’s members, as well as the insurance industry.
“We count on consumer representatives to bring unique perspectives and ideas to the table as regulators work to develop the best consumer protections possible,” said John M. Huff, NAIC president and Missouri insurance director. “This liaison program provides invaluable dialogue that not only informs our work product, but also provides important insight into how our policies impact consumers in our states.”
Huff and NAIC leadership named Immediate Past President Monica J. Lindeen as 2016 chair for the NAIC Consumer Liaison Committee. Lindeen is Montana’s insurance commissioner.
Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer will serve as co-chair of the committee.
Seventeen of the funded consumer representatives participated in the program in 2015. The following are the 2016 NAIC funded consumer liaison representatives:
- Amy Bach: Executive Director, United Policyholders
- Birny Birnbaum: Executive Director, Center for Economic Justice
- Brendan M. Bridgeland: Director, Center for Insurance Research
- Bonnie Burns: Training and Policy Specialist, California Health Advocate
- Brenda J. Cude: Professor, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service
- *India R. Hayes Larrier: Health Care Organizer, New Jersey Citizen Action
- Timothy Stoltzfus Jost: Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
- Debra Judy: Policy Director, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
- Karrol Kitt: Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
- Peter Kochenburger: Executive Director, Insurance Law Center, University of Connecticut School of Law
- Sonja L. Larkin-Thorne: Consumer Advocate
- Sarah Lueck: Health Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
- Annalise Mannix: Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe
- *Roy S. Mitchell: Executive Director, Mississippi Health Advocacy Program
- Lincoln Nehring: Senior Health Policy Analyst, Voices for Utah Children
- Jesse O’Brien: Oregon State Public Interest Research Group
- *Pam Silberman: Professor of the Practice, NC Get Covered/Care Share Health Alliance
- JoAnn Volk: Senior Research Fellow, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Center on Health Insurance Reforms
- Jackson Williams: Director of Government Affairs, Dialysis Patient Citizens
- Cindy Zeldin: Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future
- In addition, the following are the 2016 unfunded consumer representatives with the eight new representatives noted with an asterisk:
- Elizabeth (Beth) Abbott: Director, State of California, Office of the Patient Advocate
- Bailey Acevedo: Health Counselor and Attorney, Community Service Society of New York
- *Deborah Darcy: Director of Government Relations, American Kidney Fund
- Adrienne Ellis: Director of Healthcare Reform and Community Engagement, Mental Health Association of Maryland
- Howard Goldblatt: Director of Government Affairs, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
- Marguerite Herman: Project Healthcare, Consumer Advocates
- Anna Howard: Principal, Policy Development, Access to and Quality of Care, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
- Elizabeth (Betsy) Imholz: Special Projects Director, Policy and Advocacy Division of Consumer Reports, Consumers Union
- Amy Killelea: Director, Health Systems Integration, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
- Angelo Lello: Director Housing and Community Living, Autism Speaks
- Claire McAndrew: Private Insurance Program Director, Families USA
- Stephanie Mohl: Government Relations Manager, American Heart Association
- *Cary Sennett: President and CEO, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
- Andrew Sperling: Director of Legislative Advocacy, National Alliance on Mental Illness
- Silvia Yee: Senior Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund
Source: NAIC
