Texas has long had one of the weakest insurance departments in the nation — a department controlled by the insurance industry, and not at all helpful to consumers who have complaints. But now there is a new head of the department, and we can at least hope for improvement. However, so far there does not appear to be much reason to expect a shift from protecting insurance companies to protecting insurance consumers. The Dallas Morning News ran a profile of Eleanor Kitzman. Here are excerpts:
Five months on the job as Texas’ top insurance regulator, Houston native and former insurance executive Eleanor Kitzman is under close scrutiny by consumer groups, lawmakers and insurers as she deals with the first major rate filings of her tenure.
As head of the agency that regulates the state’s multibillion-dollar insurance industry, Kitzman will make decisions that directly affect the pocketbooks of most Texans — those who buy auto, home, health or other types of insurance — as well as the business fortunes of hundreds of insurers.
Her lengthy background in the industry — including the auto insurance business she started in South Carolina — gives her a leg up in overseeing the market, but also makes some consumer groups skeptical about whether she will hold companies accountable for anti-consumer practices.
“I have a different agenda than I did when I was running my insurance business or working as an attorney for insurance companies,” Kitzman said in a recent interview. “I know how the business works, so I know what insurance companies can do.”
Kitzman insisted her background and knowledge of insurance put her in position to “better serve consumers in every way.” But, she added, “having a robust, competitive market is very good for consumers.” She added: “I can also recognize gratuitous whining [by insurers] when I see it.” But consumer advocates fear she’s already shown her tendency to favor insurers.
In her first major decision last fall, Kitzman approved a rate plan by the state’s largest insurer, State Farm, that will begin switching many of the company’s homeowner policies to a higher deductible. Policyholders will have to shoulder a greater share of their property losses — while paying slightly higher rates. The overall rate increase was only 2 percent in North Texas, but Kitzman acknowledged to a Senate committee that State Farm customers will be getting less coverage for their money because of the new deductible.
A leading consumer group, Texas Watch, accused her of giving in to the “biggest bully” in the Texas insurance market. “This was Commissioner Kitzman’s first big test, and she failed miserably,” said the group’s Alex Winslow. “Insurance companies and their lobbyists are crowing over the decision.”
