FITZ ON THE JOB

Do I look pensive? Reflective? Contemplative? Reverie?

2010-06-13T21:51:00.001-07:00

With just 43 words, FitzGerald is poised to pull an upset in insurance commissioner primary

CHECK OUT THE PHOTO AND READ THE ARTICLE

With just 43 words, FitzGerald is poised to pull an upset in insurance commissioner primary
The candidate spent little compared with his better-known opponent in the Republican primary. FitzGerald's campaign largely consisted of his voter guide blurb.
Brian FitzGerald

Brian FitzGerald, a 16-year lawyer in the state Department of Insurance, spent less than $5,000 for his primary campaign. (Dave Getzschman, For The Times / June 14, 2010)

I am not a politician

2010-06-11T21:09:00.000-07:00

Since there are those so astonished that a person can actually run for office in California and NOT spend $10 Millions and as I have not spent the amount requiring a FPPC filing, here is my approximate campaign accounting:

Secretary of State filing fee
$2800

Ballot Pamphlet Statement (for those that missed it, it is also listed on this site)
$25 per word x 43 = $1075

One round trip to the LA Times Editorial Board Meeting who declined to endorse me. Trip including airfare and taxi rides:
$417

Grand Total: $4292

And I am rooting for one of those MasterCard "Priceless" ad endings here! Please root with me! Vote count is narrowing, but this is very exciting no matter what happens. Thanks to the many, many, many NEW well wishers for their encouragement!

Thank you!

2010-06-11T20:13:00.001-07:00

I had the best intentions of posting sooner, but since the newspapers and airwaves have opened up (because we aren't talking about Steve and Meg anymore?), I tried to reach out to all of you that way. Thank you for your support, your votes, and your kind words and wishes. I am getting back to you -- slowly. As you know, I can't respond to you at work so send me your home email addresses, if you like. Otherwise, I will eventually see you to say thank you in person. For now, thank you so very much!!!!

Go with the one who...

2010-06-08T08:40:00.001-07:00

-- knows how to get things done.

When you vote today...

2010-06-08T04:24:00.000-07:00

"Place in priority the Public over private concerns."

Executive Summary of my Mani-fitz-o (see longer version under older posts)

2010-06-07T18:40:00.001-07:00

California faces very challenging times. Its recovery requires the continued provision of State services to consumers and the regulation of commerce using an agency by agency approach. The California Department of Insurance is one of those agencies. The Insurance Commissioner oversees the Department of Insurance. Insurance touches every aspect of Californians' lives and major change is now coming from the national level, as well. These difficult times require someone who can be a watchful Commissioner from the outset. I have worked at the Department for over 16 years and know it well and what to do; in those instances when further expertise is needed, I know who knows in the Department itself, without recourse to outsiders or consultants. I will preserve its integrity while enforcing its legislative mandates found in the Insurance Code and regulations. As a regulator, I will protect all Californians, keeping insurance fair and regular for them and those who do business here. Undistracted and dedicated service in this governmental position will be my sole concern; I will never use it to seek another.

Fitz's Manifesto

2010-06-07T18:37:00.000-07:00

My name is Brian FitzGerald and I seek the Republican nomination for Insurance Commissioner.

The State of California is in a very difficult time. Its recovery will require better governance and restoration of confidence. The continued functioning of the State and the regulation of its commerce ought to be approached on an agency-by-agency basis. The California Department of Insurance is one of those agencies. My contribution to lifting California out of its present situation would be to see that the Department does its job well and efficiently.

The Insurance Commissioner oversees the Department of Insurance. Insurance touches every aspect of Californians' lives and now major change regarding health coverage is coming from the national level, as well. California needs a Commissioner who can be an effective administrator from the outset. There is no longer time for someone to spend two years learning the job and then the next couple running for another office.

I have worked at the Department for more than 16 years as an enforcement attorney and know it well and what to do; in those instances when greater expertise is needed, I have recourse to the Department’s greatest resource: its employees. Over the years of enforcing the Insurance Code and regulations, my witnesses have been investigators, examiners, analysts and actuaries. I know who knows without resort to outside consultants. Better still, they know my work ethic and so do those in the insurance industry. Together, we have handled cases involving agents and companies, rating and underwriting practices, fraud and unfair claims.

My present work takes me to the Department offices, and those of other agencies, around the State. As Commissioner, I would continue that practice so as to listen to staff and see that they had all they need to perform their duties on behalf of California’s still growing population. I have pledged in writing not to seek other office and would concentrate on preserving Department integrity, stability and continuity. Press releases would be informational, not self-serving. As a regulator, I will continue to protect Californians, keeping insurance practices fair and regular, resolving complaints, punishing violations and allowing reasonable rates for those companies that do business here. My view is that commerce is vital to California’s recovery and, risk being part of commerce, the insurance sector provides important coverage products. Given this philosophy, my decisions on rates will be based on the Insurance Code and, given my frugal self-funded campaign, uninfluenced by any special interests.

What I have written so far is about what can be presently improved, but let us consider preparing for the future. As mentioned earlier, Washington has now intervened in health coverage. Whereas before the Legislature was reluctant to place too much authority in a commissioner and instead spread regulation among several State agencies, Congress has now shifted the paradigm. Insurance commissioners of all the States are charged with helping to implement the Patient Protection and Affordability Act.

Representations were made to Californians about the benefits of the Act, but part of that effort is figuring out what Congress passed. We are fortunate to have Department personnel who for years have made the subject of health care coverage their expertise and are laboring under deadlines imposed by the new law.

To a certain extent, the current Insurance Code with its protections adopted over the decades can help, but I see the need for its revision, holding investigatory hearings and conferring with the Legislature regarding enabling statutes to ensure compliance. Complaints as to health care service may be addressed administratively, but that is an after-the-fact approach. Since the Federal government has increased its role in the field, it is my intention to see that the Department regulates the regulator and that our State receives what it was promised.

Daily living in California requires available, affordable and reliable insurance for much of what we do and it is the purpose of the Department is to help Californians get what they need. To this end, I am already on the job, but am now asking you to allow me to do more by electing me Insurance Commissioner. Please read more at www.fitzonthejob.com and write to me at brian@fitzonthejob.com.

Read my Ballot Statement

2010-06-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

AM Best: California Voters to Choose Party Nominees, Decide Fate of Auto Insurance Proposition

SACRAMENTO, Calif. June 07 (BestWire) —
...But first he has to get by FitzGerald, a 16-year civil service employee who has pledged to spend no more than $5,000 on his campaign. FitzGerald said he would make laws and regulations, rather than political ambition and public policy agendas, the focus of his tenure. Without criticizing Poizner in particular, FitzGerald said he wants "to take the commissioner's office out of play" when it comes to politics. Implementing aspects of the federal health care reform law will be a top priority of the next commissioner, he said.

I'm on the job, even if no one else is...

2010-06-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/07/2802963/dan-walters-budget-deadline-nears.html#mi_rss=Dan%20Walters

The Boss...

2010-06-06T15:55:00.001-07:00

-- that would be YOU -- knows who is working, as the saying goes. It has been Amateur Hour since the Recall of 2003, when running for office became a joke. Are you going to vote? Are you going to vote merely to renew the lease on incompetence that has afflicted the Golden State since?

It's D-Day Plus 66 years today. California, which did much to win the war, is functioning like one of those post-war states where the governments failed and fell with frequency. No Marshall Plan will save us; we will have to do it ourselves.

The Commissioner's baton will be passed in early January. Given the importance of insurance to any recovery, it can't be dropped or the hand off fumbled for a minute.

A well-run Department will, with other well-run State departments, keep us from falling further. In the efficient and economical implementation of State services and the regulation of commerce is the hope of recovery.

Are you asking the right questions of ALL the candidates for State offices: Why are you running for that office? What do you propose to do as a holder of that office? Hasn't that been said before? Do you intend to stay awhile to see the job through/to get done what you promised?

If you have been reading me here all these weeks or my Facebook page with its links to articles and Comments, then you know what to ask about the Insurance Commissioner

-- and you know the answers too and what you must do...

The Year 2011...

2010-06-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

State commerce, as with the world and nation, flailing. Drought, fires, floods, quakes. California population grows, but seems like people are sicker than ever. Well, you console yourself, could be worse: we could have locusts. Oh wait, we do...

So who do you trust? Who can you trust? A rapidly becoming vapid Governor issues supposedly encouraging press releases that what remains of the press try to decipher:
"He who shall so shall he who." Huh?

Times are hard. Insurers need to raise rates. Your carrier doesn't want to carry your particular risk anymore and cancels you. Leave it to unregulated free markets?

Washington sends mandates, but no money. Is anyone at work in Sacramento, anyhow?

Yes, actually up and down the Golden State, depending on who you elected Commissioner in 2010, along with a well-administered Department of Insurance.

These calamities and disasters have happened before, just not all in one year -- although we've come close! Since passage of Prop. 103 in 1988 and 1990 when the office of Insurance Commissioner became elective, the responsibility to protect California consumers has grown, but not necessarily Department staff or its budget. Sometimes during the intervening years such progress has been slowed by politics or poor supervision yet Department of Insurance staff strive to serve.

I am a member of that staff who works with this unsung personnel. You would not believe -- or maybe just be bored -- if I recounted the crises we anticipate or handle, daily or long-term. Now, because of actions taken in Washington, not Sacramento (is anybody there? does anybody care?), Sacramento is moving to increase the powers of the Department and its sister agencies to implement legislation such as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.

As the Department's Enforcement Attorney, I work with fellow employees and associates elsewhere in State governance to advise the Commissioner and enforce the Insurance Code. As your Commissioner, with the perspective and know-how acquired after 17 years of dedicated service, I can do more to see that the scenarios that began this post don't overwhelm companies or you their clients.

Wise as a judge, I would rely on what you and our examiners, investigators, analysts and actuaries -- State workers who know me and I know them -- report regarding fraud, unfair practices and failure of coverage. In turn, I would go to Sacramento or Washington, while they still have the resolve, to address what we are not already enabled by the Insurance Code and regulations to do. Otherwise, I would see to it that the Department had the resources to fulfill any of the jobs it is tasked to do.

The choice is yours. Your One Last Shot to get it right to make things right again.

Taking care of some administrative matters this evening...

2010-06-04T20:49:00.001-07:00

-- but will resume posting/blogging this weekend. Given the gubernatorial polls' seismic swings (I must do a topic on earthquakes and other California disasters), don't assume/presume any outcome on Tuesday. Press pundits, of course, will state matter-of-factly that they called the nominees all along. Vanity is Handmaiden to Hypocrisy, i.e., figuring things must break their way to their purposes. Much talk of fighting the industry, when the Commissioner is actually the judge and the Department combats unfairness.

NextGen Politics 2010

Written Questions For Candidates for State Insurance Commissioner

1. Tell us a little about yourself, your background and why Californians should vote for you.

I was born and raised in San Francisco, where I attended school. My parents were educators. Went to college at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. where I majored in Public Administration, besides working on Capitol Hill. Returned home to obtain my law degree from the University of San Francisco, while working in State and local government. Moved to Napa where I married my wife and we raised two daughters. Have practiced law for 25 years; for over 16 of those years, I have been an enforcement attorney with the California Department of Insurance. Knowledgeable about insurance rates and underwriting practices regarding insurers and enforcement of the Insurance Code and regulations against carriers and agents who have violated same. Californians should vote for me because I know the Department of Insurance, which is how the Insurance Commissioner carries out his duties. Better still, because I travel to all its offices and work with many of its staff, Department personnel know me and my reputation for getting the job done quickly and being fair to all concerned. What I don't know about a particular insurance subject, I know who does know and ask them.

2. What do you see as the major role of government and what are some of the most important things you would like to accomplish in office?

The major role of government is to serve Californians, but lately we have seen dissatisfaction, if not disconnect, on their part. By running as an insider at the Department of Insurance, I intend to cooperate with the next Governor in restoring confidence in State services on an agency-by-agency basis by being an effective administrator with my inside knowledge of the Department. Specifically, the Department is a self-funded agency which can be more responsive by ensuring regular, fair and reasonable rates, prompt implementation of services and swift discipline of those who cheat consumers.

3. What steps would you take to reduce the level of special interest in Sacramento?

To this end, I seek only the office of Insurance Commissioner. For my part, I am pledged in writing to never seek another office. My campaign is self-financed. I would assume my duties owing no one and would act as Insurance Commissioner doing only what the law mandates. It would not be governance by press release or with an eye toward obtaining the next higher office. I would draw upon the present workers in the Department with their expertise as a resource, instead of hiring outside consultants or electoral refugees to tell me how to do my job. Given that I would not be thus distracted, and by concentrating on being Commissioner, special interests in Sacramento would not have much level of influence or leverage with me. The Commissioner should be as fair, as you would expect a judge to be.

4. What steps would you take to reduce the cost of health insurance in California?

The paradigm has shifted with the very recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act. Before, the powers of the Department were either deliberately (and jealously) limited by the Legislature or shared with other State agencies. Now, Insurance Commissioners of California and the other States are charged with assisting in implementation of the Bill. Interim, the Department attorneys who currently examine health insurance policies are now tasked with parsing the omnibus Bill to identify its mandates and meet its deadlines. To a certain extent, the present Insurance Code -- which is in need of revision -- helps to do this, but the next Commissioner may have to hold investigatory hearings and confer with the Legislature regarding enabling statutes to ensure compliance by the companies. Complaints as to health care service can be addressed administratively, but that is after the fact. The objective as to cost is to make certain that the "Affordability" rate provisions of the Act are enforced. Representations were made to Californians as to the benefits to them if the Bill were passed. Since the Federal government has increased its role in this matter, I will see that the Department regulates the Regulator and lives up to them.

5. What steps would you take to try to reduce the cost of other types of insurance in California?

Since passage of Proposition 103 over 22 years ago, availability and affordability of automobile insurance, for example, has improved. For this reason, it has to be the first principle and foundation of how the Department regulates all insurance products and guarded as such. Rigorous enforcement of the Code sections and regulations adopted since further this end when it comes to other types of insurance coverage, but it does not yet extend to all kinds. In addition to educating the public as to its rights under the Insurance Code, the Department has existing programs which can be expanded and the Commissioner, in a nonpartisan capacity, should go to the Legislature for authority to do more. Increasing insurability helps to reduce costs.

6. What is your stand on Prop 17 regarding auto insurance?

Although I view favorably any talk of "discounts" by auto insurers, they cannot result in a surcharge upon other drivers, as the Department has actuarially determined. In addition, it is possible that it may result in an increase of uninsured motorists, a subject of deep concern. Finally, it could undermine Prop 103, which is central to the Insurance Code, as I noted above. For this reason, I cannot support it.

7. What are your views on no-fault insurance and do you think it is viable for California?

This is a question I have looked into over the years as part of my job at the Department and although it has been adopted in other States, it does not appear satisfactorily workable in California, given the size of our still growing population and established tort system.

8. Currently, do you feel there is a good balance in state insurance laws between providing Californians with affordable coverage and giving insurance companies the opportunity to achieve a reasonable level of profitability?

Yes, but it requires a vigilant Commissioner and a watchful Department working through its investigators, examiners, actuaries, analysts and attorneys. Prop 103 has protected both consumers and providers of insurance, for example. Further, as the Department has been empowered over the ensuing years, the prior approval of rates by the Commissioner since instituted controls costs and prevents swings that occurred before passage. I judge the statutes adopted since by the fact that insurers want to participate in our market and Californians can exercise choice over a broad selection of carriers.

www.fitzonthejob.com
brian@fitzonthejob.com
Facebook Brian FitzGerald for Insurance Commissioner
(415) 951 - 9114

There should be another article about me in the next day or two...

2010-06-03T21:19:00.000-07:00

-- which I will post here and at the Facebook page. In the end, I was at least able to communicate with a number of dailies and trade press except my original hometown paper. All I would have said to it is (to borrow a line from a film) that I can't give you something mediocre, even if that's all you want. You out there want someone to BE Commissioner and to DO the job. As Commissioner I would ask all Department personnel to ACT on their job specifications. I won't just be watching; I will be driving myself to our far-flung offices. Not surprise inspections, but call-ahead visits where Department staff can tell me what they are doing and what they need to do it. That is how you enforce the Insurance Code and regulations and effectively regulate the delivery of insurance products and services to Californians and consumers.

Busy as a "Worker" Bee...

2010-06-03T10:04:00.001-07:00

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/06/03/2794813/the-state-worker-hes-running-for.html#none

All the News that Fitz

2010-06-02T20:33:00.000-07:00

I wanted to interrupt myself so I could write about you for a change. I have tried to persuade, by example, you to run for whatever office for which you have the qualifications. You might want to spend more than a dollar a day, but otherwise use the internet, set up a website and contact the press/media. It shouldn't cost a fortune to run for office, provided you have the qualifications to stand on. Try writing a book. Mine was entitled I Wrote This Book Because I'm Running for Office. Couldn't find a publisher.

I will return to the election at hand with my next 'blog entry.

To regulate is to keep things...

2010-06-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

-- regular. A Commissioner can propose policy, but you have only to look at the multiple volumes of the Insurance Code on library shelves to see that there is already much policy to enforce, laden by the Legislature over a century and a half. If the Department is doing its job, advising the Commissioner and apprising him of potential problems in advance, then routine issues regarding insurance rates or claims handling ought to be quickly resolved and before they become crises. As it is, we Californians live on the edge of some disaster every day.

How to get the job done? For any office, first Californians must vote for those who will stay and undertake the duties of the particular office. The amateurs have had their chances, those of us who want to recover California now want ours. Next, the candidates must know what to do. California is running out of time. Officeholders themselves must "elect" to set aside personal ambition and be content to give their best fully to the position sought. This requires great powers of concentration. Anything less would not be dedicated public service.

A commissioner oversees the daily functioning of the Department in its task to protect millions of consumers in the delivery of insurance products and services and to regulate the most massive sector of California commerce, which is the insurance industry, touching all aspects of our daily lives. Sometimes a referee, sometimes an umpire, he can best compared to a judge, but that doesn't preclude policymaking.

Its application, however, must be practical, not political. There is much in the aforementioned Insurance Code and regulations that can be done better now, not just replaced with something new. That is where my experience in the enforcement of that same Code counts.

We are a week out from the primary. I have run my own campaign on little money and asked for nothing except your attention. All the while, I continued to do my job as a Department Enforcement Attorney, dealing with agents and companies and thinking how I would manage matters differently, if given that opportunity by you. For all these months, it was how I could best demonstrate all of the above to you.

Please continue to check daily both here and my Facebook page "Brian FitzGerald for Insurance Commissioner." Go back and read my earlier posts, essays and links. You may think that things are winding down or the election is only about the Governor's race, but I and other Californians plan on it being much more than that.

I tire of reading in the press about money in politics...

2010-05-30T13:14:00.000-07:00

-- and even hearing local, Californian reporters on national radio stating that the solution is for ordinary people to run. Is that so? So why won't the press cover me? You don't think I'm qualified to run for running the Department of Insurance?

(I was going to write on the topic of mediocrity in State governance, but will take the rest of this significant weekend to work and contemplate the topic of hypocrisy.)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/may/29/money-for-nothing

I wrote Mr. Ortiz to ask him to meet with me on Wednesday...

2010-05-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

-- at the Bee offices in Sacramento. Everyone now please write to him stating Meet with "Fitz the Unknown"!

http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/29/2785457/ballot-watch-the-race-for-insurance.html

(Sorry for the interruption; the Insurance Department Chronicles will resume shortly. Watch this space.)

Complaint Department

2010-05-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

Got a complaint about your rates or how a claim you made was handled?

About rates, present and possible future:

Maybe the bill amending the California codes pending before the Assembly will pass and maybe the Legislature will pass it and maybe our Acting Governor will sign it instead of vetoing it, but the fact remains that even if you give the next Commissioner prior approval of health insurance rates, that won't be the end of the matter. The world is still trying to sort out what was passed by Congress in March.

How it works: presently, in auto and property and casualty, a company which puts in for an increase of 7% or less gets it. More than that, it goes to hearing. The Commissioner can't deny Due Process. So then the matter is referred to a Department Enforcement Attorney, who has to take it to hearing over the better part of a year. An administrative law judge hears the matter, sitting in place of the Commissioner and after all the evidence to justify the rate increase, writes a proposed decision and submits it to the Commissioner who can either accept, reject or modify it.

Until then, the Commissioner can only panel an investigatory hearing to bawl out the company and let the public complain and company explain, perhaps with an eye toward going to the Legislature. If there is existing law, regulations MAY be adopted after a protracted process, again due to Due Process, and in coordination with yet another State agency that oversees that sort of thing. The Department is not an island.

Got a complaint that your claim was denied or mishandled?

Here the existing Insurance Code empowers and enables the Department Enforcement Attorney to file an Accusation or Notice of Noncompliance charging the company with whatever number of violations and seek a penalty of variable fine per claim or discipline the licensee's license (in the case of an agent; certificate of authority in the case of a company).

Even those who think they know are startled to see how much the Legislature over the years relegated or delegated to be regulated by the Department. These same people think the Commissioner alone can proclaim, "Let it be done!" ukase (look that word up) and that's that. No, the good people of the Department are the ones who take in the complaints, investigate the complaints, examine the companies' books, analyze or actuarialize (I made up that word) what it a justified rate or underwriting practice and keep you informed through its clerical functions.

More to come: "Oh, I'm just gettin' started!" Al Pacino in Scent of a Woman

It should NOT cost a fortune to run for Insurance Commissioner...

2010-05-29T14:32:00.000-07:00

http://www.sacbee.com/static/weblogs/capitolalertlatest/2010/05/cash-dash-fundr.html

-- and you shouldn't go in the red for it. In the end, of all major candidates running for offices on June 8, who has spent the less? Me. Why? Because I run on my qualifications. That matters not to the Press/Media, which has tried to ignore me, speaking instead of "qualities" not qualifications. This is how we get the government we have. To get the good governance we deserve, let us focus on just one office and where it can make a contribution to the overall improvement of State management...(cont.'d)

A FAQ and here's a good reason not to:

2010-05-28T18:07:00.001-07:00

I've been asked why I don't do mailers. If you're supporters of mine you're savvy and know how to do Internet press and media research so that's your homework assignment for tonight. Those who don't support me are the types who can't recall what happened five minutes ago and don't get what the Hell I'm talking about. Speaking of which:

p.s. Gary Coleman: R.I.P. Looking back on 2003, the Recall became a farce that we have been paying for seven years now in the lack of good governance. I now know how hard and expensive it is to run for my party's nomination -- although we are all nonpartisans now, right? -- I can't imagine what folks thought back then. Speaking of saving money on the above such as mailers, calls and such (in our household we toss or delete), was the filing fee $2800? Was a ballot statement $25.00 per word?? Mamma mia! (I'm Calabrese on my late mother's side of the family.)

The Fighting FitzGerald

2010-05-28T13:55:00.000-07:00

About the non-endorsement today: apart from the mistakes in grammer and mechanics, there was a spelling error, i.e., it's FitzGerald. Big "G". It's not a matter of preference, it's a matter of fact. How many resumes or "C.V."s do I have to give you? How many times do you have to circle it with your pen in my presence? How many times do I have to say it? What do you think Messrs. Mcdonalds, O'donnell and Ben-hur? Anyway, you have only to read the State news today to see that I am not policy-adverse, but know full well the limitations of what the Commissioner can do in that capacity. I have never seen the job as purely administrative, but in these times, it will take a realist to carry out what is in the law and what ObamaCare imposes. I am only glad that at least I changed the conversation as to serving a full term, making the position nonpartisan, and empowering.

Brian FitzGerald for Insurance Commissioner

My name is Brian FitzGerald and I seek the Republican nomination for Insurance Commissioner.

The State of California is in a very difficult time. Its recovery will require good governance. The continued functioning of State services for Californians and the regulation of commerce ought to be approached on an agency by agency basis. The California Department of Insurance is one of those agencies.

The Insurance Commissioner oversees the Department of Insurance. Insurance touches every aspect of Californians' lives and now major change regarding health coverage is coming from the national level, as well.

This challenging period requires a Commissioner who can be effective from the outset. There is no time for someone to spend two years learning about the job and then the next two years running for another office.

I have worked at the Department for over 16 years and know it well and what to do; in those instances when greater expertise is needed, I know who knows within the Department itself, without hiring outside consultants.

I will preserve Department integrity, provide stability and continuity, and actively enforce the California Insurance Code and regulations and what health mandates will come from Washington.

As a regulator, I will protect Californians, keeping insurance fair and regular, resolving complaints, punishing violations and allowing only reasonable rates for those companies that do business here.

Undistracted and dedicated service in position of your Insurance Commissioner will be my sole concern because I will never use it to seek higher office.

Please read more about me at www.fitzonthejob.com

Approved by Brian FitzGerald

I DARE YOU !!

2010-05-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

1. Those duties are set forth in the California Insurance Code and to a lesser extent the Government Code and State Constitution itself. The Commissioner and the California Department of Insurance are duty-bound to enforce the Insurance Code and related regulations.

2. Have not and never will.

3. No.

4. Yes.

5. Presently, the prior approval of rates expanded 22 years ago by passage of Proposition 103 does not yet adequately afford the needed control over Health insurers – see my response to #6 below as to what can be done. Yet there is reason to believe that this has changed with the recent passage of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act of 2010 (“PPAA”). Even now, Department attorneys are parsing the omnibus Federal bill to ascertain how it enables the Commissioner and the Department now and how further authority to act may be forthcoming from Washington or Sacramento.

As to Property and Casualty Companies, the Commissioner and Department have prior approval over rates, underwriting practices and claims handling. As a Department Enforcement Attorney, I daily carry out the mandate of Proposition 103 that rates not be excessive or discriminatory and that they be adequate and reasonable. I already do, through advice to the Commissioner and prosecuting hearings, protect consumers and keep a level and fair field for competing P&C companies. Given the appreciate I have for the rank and file who do this job, as Commissioner I will be able to do so to a greater extent, seeing staff has the resources to vigorously examine applications for premium increases.

6. Before, the powers of the Commissioner were circumscribed by the Legislature, which was reluctant to empower the office and one person with such authority and control. Hence regulation is shared between the Insurance Department as to review of policies and the Department of Managed Health Care as to practice. (Actually, there are at least a couple other State agencies that also are involved in the divided delivery of health services to Californians.) However, the paradigm has shifted with passage of the Patient Protection and Affordability Act of 2010 (“PPAA”) What powers the Commissioner has to enforce are currently being examined by Department staff, both as to what is in the Federal bill, what more is to come and what is now in the California Insurance Code. It is very likely that the Commissioner through the Department’s Legislative Bureau will have to seek enabling statutes under the Code to further implementation of the PPAA.

Yet even now the Department, under the supervision and stewardship of the Commissioner, regulates health insurance companies via licensing, investigatory hearings and policy approval, in addition to bringing disciplinary administrative hearing action for unfair claims practices, which obtain fines from and can limit a company’s sales. Until what additional authority is granted to the Commissioner and Department (and this will be true for all the other States) and clarified under the PPAA or granted in future by clean up Federal legislation, as Commissioner I am determined to bring the spirit of Proposition 103 (explained above in #5) using the existing Code and regulations to the enforcement of health products sold as to their cost and coverage, that is, affordable, reasonable and without discrimination.
Sometimes you have to write a header like that to grab attention. Today the Contra Costa Times-Oakland Tribune endorsed the other candidates. Again, it comes down to the view that the office is for policy making and I am more of an administrator.

One more time and then we really must move on: The S.F. Chronicle in its editorial section today notes that Mr. Jones' bill to give the Commissioner and Department prior approval of health rates will be considered by the Legislature. I supported that before Mr. Jones was in the Legislature. No matter, policymaking is what the Legislature does, sometimes with advice from the Commissioner.

By him or herself -- and as the next one if it isn't me will find out -- the Commissioner cannot say, "Let it Be Done!" Stay in the Legislature or, if now termed out, what have you legislators being doing all these years? Working on the perpetual budget deficit and State debt? The press doesn't comprehend how laws are carried out and enforced.

The Legislature determines who can vote, etc., and the Secretary of State enforces...

I said I would try to tell you more about the job...

2010-05-27T19:15:00.000-07:00

-- so here goes: you may have noticed the press acknowledging that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, will impact the position of Insurance Commissioner. I have been saying that since February 2009. I was wrong to think it would pass in the First 100 Days, but now it has passed and just in time to give candidates something other to talk about besides Prop. 17.

The Department is hard at work to meet and to help insurers meet the looming deadlines, some immediate, others in the near future. The next Commissioner will have to know what the Department can do under the PPACA, what it can require be done to extend affordable coverage to all Californians, and what more may have to be asked of Sacramento or D.C. Better still, if necessary, to obtain actual delivery rather than just jawboning either the industry or federal bureaucracy. That's where you have to know the Department's resources and capabilities. We already have mandates to carry out and cannot tolerate unfunded ones.

I get many questions, some related to insurance. The constitutionality of the new law is one. It is being contested, but a realist will observe that the Supreme Court usually sides with its co-branches of the federal government, seldom giving up its power. So let us resolve that we Californians get what we pay for while that is litigated and for that reason I am prepared to litigate separately to obtain what Washington promised in the interim. As you know by now, I know something about that subject. I want what is best for Californians, who will reprsent in our lifetimes 20% of the country's populace. In fact, we are something of a small country.

I expect to have more to write shortly since there should be in a day or so one or two more stories in the press on the role the Commissioner and Department will play in implementing the PPACA. Then I will move on to the topic of what the Department regulates now and how it can do better.

LATimes: Will you sponsor a debate between me and we three?

2010-05-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Healthcare reform raises the stakes in California insurance commissioner election