35 Insurance Consumer Representatives Named as NAIC Liaisons

Article

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently named 35 consumer liaison representatives for 2016.

The 20 funded and 15 unfunded consumer representatives began their terms Jan. 1, 2016. Funded representatives receive travel expense reimbursement from the NAIC; unfunded representatives pay their own expenses.

Established in 1992, the liaison program provides promotes consumer advocates an opportunity to interact with the state insurance departments that are NAIC’s members, as well as the insurance industry.

“We count on consumer representatives to bring unique perspectives and ideas to the table as regulators work to develop the best consumer protections possible,” said John M. Huff, NAIC president and Missouri insurance director. “This liaison program provides invaluable dialogue that not only informs our work product, but also provides important insight into how our policies impact consumers in our states.”

Huff and NAIC leadership named Immediate Past President Monica J. Lindeen as 2016 chair for the NAIC Consumer Liaison Committee. Lindeen is Montana’s insurance commissioner.

Kansas Insurance Commissioner Ken Selzer will serve as co-chair of the committee.

Seventeen of the funded consumer representatives participated in the program in 2015. The following are the 2016 NAIC funded consumer liaison representatives:

Amy Bach: Executive Director, United Policyholders
Birny Birnbaum: Executive Director, Center for Economic Justice
Brendan M. Bridgeland: Director, Center for Insurance Research
Bonnie Burns: Training and Policy Specialist, California Health Advocate
Brenda J. Cude: Professor, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Service
*India R. Hayes Larrier: Health Care Organizer, New Jersey Citizen Action
Timothy Stoltzfus Jost: Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
Debra Judy: Policy Director, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
Karrol Kitt: Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
Peter Kochenburger: Executive Director, Insurance Law Center, University of Connecticut School of Law
Sonja L. Larkin-Thorne: Consumer Advocate
Sarah Lueck: Health Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Annalise Mannix: Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe
*Roy S. Mitchell: Executive Director, Mississippi Health Advocacy Program
Lincoln Nehring: Senior Health Policy Analyst, Voices for Utah Children
Jesse O’Brien: Oregon State Public Interest Research Group
*Pam Silberman: Professor of the Practice, NC Get Covered/Care Share Health Alliance
JoAnn Volk: Senior Research Fellow, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute, Center on Health Insurance Reforms
Jackson Williams: Director of Government Affairs, Dialysis Patient Citizens
Cindy Zeldin: Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future
In addition, the following are the 2016 unfunded consumer representatives with the eight new representatives noted with an asterisk:
Elizabeth (Beth) Abbott: Director, State of California, Office of the Patient Advocate
Bailey Acevedo: Health Counselor and Attorney, Community Service Society of New York
*Deborah Darcy: Director of Government Relations, American Kidney Fund
Adrienne Ellis: Director of Healthcare Reform and Community Engagement, Mental Health Association of Maryland
Howard Goldblatt: Director of Government Affairs, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
Marguerite Herman: Project Healthcare, Consumer Advocates
Anna Howard: Principal, Policy Development, Access to and Quality of Care, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Elizabeth (Betsy) Imholz: Special Projects Director, Policy and Advocacy Division of Consumer Reports, Consumers Union
Amy Killelea: Director, Health Systems Integration, National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
Angelo Lello: Director Housing and Community Living, Autism Speaks
Claire McAndrew: Private Insurance Program Director, Families USA
Stephanie Mohl: Government Relations Manager, American Heart Association
*Cary Sennett: President and CEO, Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Andrew Sperling: Director of Legislative Advocacy, National Alliance on Mental Illness
Silvia Yee: Senior Staff Attorney, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund