Physician insurer West Virginia Mutual Insurance Co. is under new leadership after naming R. Austin Wallace to serve as president and chief financial officer.
Wallace served on the Charleston-based insurer’s board of directors from 2004 to 2009 and is currently its board chair. He takes over from David Rader who lead the insurer from its inception in 2003.
The West Virginia Legislature created West Virginia Mutual in 2003 as part of a medical malpractice reform law. The insurer assumed some 1,400 physician policyholders from the state-run Board of Risk and Insurance Management as part of a stopgap measure to cover physicians when several large commercial insurers pulled out of the state.
The insurer received a $24 million loan from the state to start up operations. But due to its strong financial performance it paid back the loan 25 years earlier than anticipated. Since 2004,the company says physicians premiums are 40 percent to 50 percent lower than they were when the insurer first opened its doors for business.
The insurer recently secured a higher financial rating. A.M. Best increased the insurer’s financial rating to A-, and raised its outlook from “stable” to “excellent.”
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