D.C. commissioner fired over 'own policy' uproar

White’s issues include insurance and reinsurance captives regulation, solvency, international insurance standards, availability and affordability of insurance and reserving, among others. From 2003 to 2004, White was director of the captive insurance division for Washington, D.C. In 2006, then Delaware Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn hired White, who was then living in New Jersey as a senior vice president at Heartland Fidelity Insurance Co., to administer a new program for the Delaware Department of Insurance aimed at attracting captive insurance companies to the state.

In the interview Saturday, White said he was very proud of the DISB’s track record, and what his rehabilitation team was able to accomplish with the rehabilitation of Chartered Health Plan, especially when a year ago such prospects seemed dim. 

White said he was able to meet the three key objectives he laid out, namely making sure all policyholders continued to get their Medicaid benefits, making sure all employees were able to keep their job or be offered one, and making sure the providers were paid. Chartered’s assets were sold to Amerihealth, effective May 1. 

Medicaid benefits continues for all, all Chartered employees were offered jobs at Amerihealth and health care providers have received more than 80 cents on the dollar for what they were owned, White noted.

White said he was also leaving the department in a position of strength. The DISB has continued to contribute more than $100 million to general fund every year that he has been commissioner — not on taxpayer money, but industry fees and premium taxes — and that is due to a very good team of professionals at the DISB, he said.

White also said his realignment of the DISB’s banking bureau has created a resurrection of that arm of the DISB, especially since it was on life support when he arrived. It now provides market services support for small businesses. White credited Gray for a lot of the progress in the District and the DISB. 

Deputy Chester McPherson will now service interim commissioner a DISB news release related Sunday; White’s  email directed all commissioner questions to him. He did not respond this weekend.

To be sure, other state insurance commissioners have reported displeasure with the extension of substandard (below the new EHB standards) policies because of its potential to keep people out of the state-based or federaly-run exchange marketplaces, all calibrated for a spread of risk, and cause premiums spikes. 

Montana Insurance and Securities Commissioner and NAIC executive Committee Vice President Monica Lindeen stated about the Obamacare policy extension, according to the Flathead Beacon, (MT), “I am in the process of deciding what authority I have or I don’t have. I am also in conversations with Montana’s insurance companies to see how this announcement affects their business plans and Montana consumers. This kind of confusion is precisely why I have always fought for keeping insurance regulation at the state level. We know our markets, our companies and our neighbors better than Washington, D.C. does.”

Immediate past president of the NAIC, Kevin McCarty, Florida’s commissioner, however, “pledged” to work with any company that chooses to continue coverage in accordance with the president’s transitional policy…” 

Commissioner Mike Kreidler of Washington State, the longest-serving state insurance commissioner active now, flat-out rejected the new Obama fix, stating that “I do not believe his proposal is a good deal for the state of Washington. In the interest of keeping the consumer protections we have enacted and ensuring that we keep health insurance costs down for all consumers, we are staying the course. We will not be allowing insurance companies to extend their policies.” 

For his part, White added Monday that his comments “on issues affecting insurance, securities, and banking markets in DC have always been understood to be from the regulatory perspective.  I do not speak for the Mayor and have never indicated otherwise.  I was not criticizing the President, but I was calling into question the course of action being suggested because of its potential impact on the DC marketplace and its residents. The statement reflected concerns but also made clear that DISB would work with stakeholders to determine what would be the best course of action for DC. In this instance the political aspects overshadowed what I believe were the more important marketplace concerns.  I have been committed to the exchange idea because I believed it would improve the delivery of healthcare to District residents.  I think what we have accomplished goes a long way toward making that a reality. I thought I was doing my job by protecting what we have built.”