Lee Covington has formally announced his intention to resign his position as Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance before December 10 “to pursue career options in the private sector.”
“This was a difficult decision to make, but it is one I have been contemplating and discussing with the Governor for several months now,” Covington stated. “It has been the greatest professional honor of my life to serve the citizens of Ohio and to be involved in the enormous progress we have made at the Department.”
Covington has served as the Department Director since his appointment by Governor Taft on March 5, 1999. According to the announcement he has been recognized as a “Renaissance Regulator” by the national insurance media, and has made “enormous contributions to insurance regulation in Ohio and nationally during his administration.”
The bulletin cited a record setting rating during the Department’s accreditation exam in 2001, the implementation of an alternative risk assessment approach to financial surveillance, the creation of an agent licensing system now regarded as a national model, along with conducting the nation’s most extensive exam of health insurers’ payment practices, and the directing the state’s largest-ever insurance fraud investigation, uncovering a $105 million fraud scheme, among his accomplishments.
Covington is the recipient of awards from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Consumer Federation of America, Ecom-Ohio, and the Web Marketing Association for utilizing web-based technology to provide useful information to consumers and streamline the Department’s regulatory processes for Ohio insurers and agents.
He also serves as a member of the Executive Committee of the NAIC and Chairman of the NAIC’s Midwestern Zone, and “has been a driving force behind many efforts to modernize and preserve the state-based insurance regulatory system.”
“I have tremendously enjoyed my tenure as a member of Governor Taft’s cabinet, but after nearly six years in public service and with a growing family, now is the right time for me to return to the private sector,” Covington continued. “I believe all citizens are well-served by private sector leaders who enter public service for a period of time to bring a fresh perspective and new energy necessary to make significant positive changes in government. Having done so as Director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, I look forward to someday having an opportunity to serve the public once again.”
The governor praised Covington’s accomplishments. “When I appointed Lee Covington to head the Ohio Department of Insurance, I asked him to protect Ohio’s insurance consumers, strengthen the insurance market in Ohio, and make the department a national leader in the regulation of insurance,” Taft stated. “He has accomplished those tasks with great energy, integrity, and dedication. I want to thank him for his leadership and service to the people of Ohio, and wish him and his wife Heather every success in the future.”
Topics Legislation Ohio
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