View this article online: https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2010/10/21/114247.htm
Colorado Insurance Commissioner Marcy Morrison has received the Excellence in Consumer Advocacy award, presented by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) Consumer Representatives, at NAIC’s national meeting in Orlando, Fla. Commissioner Morrison was recognized for her work on behalf of insurance consumers.
“Marcy Morrison has been a consistent champion for consumers, both in Colorado and nationally, for many years,” said Barbara Yondorf, a consumer representative to the NAIC from the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative. “She’s shown that maintaining a fair and competitive business environment and ensuring strong consumer protections are both possible.”
Morrison was recognized for providing valued support to insurance consumers in Colorado as well as at the NAIC, and ensuring that Colorado consumers and consumers nationwide are afforded full consumer protections. Commissioner Morrison is responsible for legislation making the Colorado Consumer Insurance Council a statutory advisory body; the Division of Insurance also has a Producer Advisory Council. She demonstrates how to balance the interests of business with those of the consumer so that the entire insurance market works in the best interest of all, NAIC said.
Commissioner Morrison also is a former NAIC consumer representative and currently serves as the vice-chair of the NAIC Consumer Participation Board of Trustees.
Seeking to promote consumer interests in insurance regulations, the NAIC annually selects individuals who have submitted applications to serve as NAIC consumer liaison representatives. It is this group that presented Commissioner Morrison with the award.
Commissioner Morrison came to the Colorado Division of Insurance with a wealth of experience. She served as an El Paso County Commissioner from 1984 to 1992 and in the Colorado House of Representatives from 1992 to 2000. She chaired the Health Environment, Welfare and Institutions Committee (HEWI). The HEWI committee debated bills concerning public health, children’s insurance, Medicaid, and the regulation of health care professions. Further, the HEWI committee had legislative oversight for the Colorado Departments of Human Services, Public Health and Environment, and Health Care Policy and Financing. As a Representative in the House, she also chaired the Health Care Task Force and the Intractable Pain Task Force. In November 2000, the people of Manitou Springs elected Morrison as Mayor. Prior to becoming Insurance Commissioner, she served as the chair of the Division of Insurance volunteer Consumer Council.
Joel Ario, the former Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner and currently the head of the Health and Human Services Office of Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight’s Office of Insurance Exchanges, also received an Excellence in Consumer Advocacy award this year.