Insurance commissioner

An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States that, along with his or her office, regulate the insurance industry. The powers granted to the office of an insurance commissioner differ in each state. The office of an insurance commissioner is established either by the state constitution or by statute. While most insurance commissioners are appointed, in some jurisdictions they are elected. The office of the insurance commissioner may be part of a larger regulatory agency, or an autonomous department.

Insurance law and regulation is established individually by each state. In order to better coordinate insurance regulation among the states and territories, insurance commissioners are members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC).

Duties and Powers of Insurance Commissioners

The purpose of insurance commissioners is to maintain fair pricing for insurance products, protecting the solvency of insurance companies, preventing unfair practices by insurance companies, and ensuring availability of insurance coverage. In order to accomplish these goals, each state grants several powers to insurance commissioners and their offices, including:

• Approval of insurance rates
• Periodical financial examinations of insurers
• Licensing of companies, agencies, agents, and brokers
• Monitoring and regulating claims handling

List of current insurance commissioners

State/territory	Name	Title	Name of Office	Elected/Appointed
Alabama	Jim L. Ridling	Commissioner	Alabama Department of Insurance	Appointed
Alaska	Lori K. Wing-Heier	Director	Alaska Division of Insurance	Appointed
American Samoa	Tau Tanuvasa	Commissioner	Office of the Governor	Appointed
Arizona	Darren Ellingson	Interim Director	Arizona Department of Insurance	Appointed
Arkansas	Allen W. Kerr	Commissioner	Arkansas Insurance Department	Appointed
California	Dave Jones	Commissioner	California Department of Insurance	Elected
Colorado	Marguerite Salazar	Commissioner	Colorado Division of Insurance	Appointed
Connecticut	Katharine L. Wade	Commissioner	Connecticut Insurance Department	Appointed
Delaware	Karen Weldin Stewart	Commissioner	Delaware Department of Insurance	Elected
District of Columbia	Stephen C. Taylor	Acting Commissioner	District of Columbia Department of Insurance, Securities, and Banking	Appointed
Florida	Kevin M. Mccarty	Commissioner	Florida Office of Insurance Regulation	Appointed
Georgia	Ralph T. Hudgens	Commissioner	Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner	Elected
Guam	Artemio B. Ilagan	Commissioner	Guam Department of Revenue and Taxation	Appointed
Hawaii	Gordon I. Ito	Commissioner	Hawaii Insurance Division	Appointed
Idaho	Dean Cameron	Director	Idaho Department of Insurance	Appointed
Illinois	Anne Melissa Dowling	Acting Director	Illinois Department of Insurance	Appointed
Indiana	Stephen W. Robertson	Commissioner	Indiana Department of Insurance	Appointed
Iowa	Nick Gerhart	Commissioner	Iowa Insurance Division	Appointed
Kansas	Ken Selzer	Commissioner	Kansas Insurance Department	Elected
Kentucky	Sharon P. Clark	Commissioner	Kentucky Department of Insurance	Appointed
Louisiana	James J. Donelon	Commissioner	Louisiana Department of Insurance	Elected
Maine	Eric A. Cioppa	Superintendent	Maine Bureau of Insurance	Appointed
Maryland	Al Redmer Jr.	Commissioner	Maryland Insurance Administration	Appointed
Massachusetts	Daniel R. Judson	Commissioner	Massachusetts Division of Insurance	Appointed
Michigan	Patrick M. Mcpharlin	Director	Michigan Department of Insurance and Financial Services	Appointed
Minnesota	Mike Rothman	Commissioner	Minnesota Department of Commerce	Appointed
Mississippi	Mike Chaney	Commissioner	Mississippi Insurance Department	Elected
Missouri	John M. Huff	Director	Missouri Department of Insurance, Financial Institutions and Professional Registration	Appointed
Montana	Monica J. Lindeen	Commissioner	Montana Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance	Elected
Nebraska	Bruce R. Ramge	Director	Nebraska Department of Insurance	Appointed
Nevada	Amy L. Parks	Acting Commissioner	Nevada Division of Insurance	Appointed
New Hampshire	Roger A. Sevigny	Commissioner	New Hampshire Insurance Department	Appointed
New Jersey	Richard J. Badolato	Acting Commissioner	New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance	Appointed
New Mexico	John G. Franchini	Superintendent	New Mexico Office of Superintendent of Insurance	Appointed
New York	Anthony Albanese	Acting Superintendent	New York State Department of Financial Services	Appointed
North Carolina	Wayne Goodwin	Commissioner	North Carolina Department of Insurance	Elected
North Dakota	Adam Hamm	Commissioner	North Dakota Insurance Department	Elected
Northern Mariana Islands	Mark O. Rabauliman	Secretary of Commerce	Office of the Insurance Commissioner	Appointed
Ohio	Mary Taylor	Lt. Governor/ Director	Ohio Department of Insurance	Appointed
Oklahoma	John D. Doak	Commissioner	Oklahoma Insurance Department	Elected
Oregon	Laura N. Cali	Commissioner	Oregon Insurance Division	Appointed
Pennsylvania	Teresa D. Miller	Commissioner	Pennsylvania Insurance Department	Appointed
Puerto Rico	Ángela Weyne	Commissioner	Office of the Commissioner of Insurance	Appointed
Rhode Island	Joseph Torti III	Superintendent	Rhode Island Division of Insurance	Appointed
South Carolina	Raymond G. Farmer	Director	South Carolina Department of Insurance	Appointed
South Dakota	Larry Deiter	Director	South Dakota Division of Insurance	Appointed
Tennessee	Julie Mix McPeak	Commissioner	Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance	Appointed
Texas	David Mattax	Commissioner	Texas Department of Insurance	Appointed
Utah	Todd E. Kiser	commissioner	Utah Insurance Department	Appointed
U.S. Virgin Islands	Osbert Potter	Lt. Governor/ Commissioner	Division of Banking and Insurance	Elected
Vermont	Susan L. Donegan	commissioner	Vermont Department of Financial Regulation	Appointed
Virginia	Jacqueline K. Cunningham	commissioner	Virginia Bureau of Insurance	Appointed
Washington	Mike Kreidler	commissioner	Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner	Elected
West Virginia	Michael D. Riley	commissioner	West Virginia Offices of the Insurance Commissioner	Appointed
Wisconsin	Ted Nickel	commissioner	Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance	Appointed
Wyoming	Tom Glause	commissioner	Wyoming Insurance Department	Appointed