Okla. Commissioner Doak Comes out Swinging at NAIC Meeting

March 10, 2012 by Jeff Jeffrey

The National Association of Insurance Commissionersmeeting had just gotten under way in New Orleans, and Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doakwasted no time in bringing hot-button issues before the organization. Doak has already weighed in on the constitutionality of the Federal Insurance Office and the contentious question of whether religious institutions should be required to cover contraception services for their employees, even as he coordinates a national summit on tornado preparedness.

On March 3, Doak began circulating a proposed resolution barring the NAIC from supporting any legislative action that would “deny citizens’ constitutionally protected religious rights.” That resolution is aimed squarely at an Obama administration policy requiring all health insurers to cover birth control and other contraception services. The Obama administration had announced religious organizations would not be exempt from that requirement under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Doak told Best’s News Service, “We want to protect our state’s rights and our state’s liberties and protect those religious freedoms that are here. Because if we just continue to let them deteriorate, no matter what the issue is, pretty soon they’re going to be gone.”

The Obama administration’s policy touched off a fierce debate in Washington, which President Barack Obama tried to resolve Feb. 10 by saying the policy would be revised so that religious institutions would not have to cover contraception services directly. Instead, insurance companies would cover those services. Many religious organizations, including Catholic universities and bishops, have pushed back, saying contraception runs afoul of religious teachings, regardless of whether or not they are picking up the tab directly. Supporters of the requirement say contraception services are an important preventative health strategy for women. Meanwhile, insurers worry they’d be left holding the bag, by having to pay for contraception coverage without being allowed to collect the premiums to cover it (Best’s News Service, Feb. 23, 2012).

Doak, a Republican, said he has already begun speaking with other insurance commissioners about the resolution and he expects it to generate a great deal of discussion when the regulator meet behind closed doors over the weekend. “Those of us that are elected have a higher standard to communicate the issues that come from our state,” Doak said. “And I think conservative governors are going to be watching this and are going to be interested to see what their state’s insurance commissioner does on this particular issue.”

Doak recently threw his support behind federal legislation that would have exempted religious institutions from the mandate to offer contraception coverage under their employees’ health insurance plans.

On March 1, the U.S. Senate voted to table that bill, which was known as the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act” (Best’s News Service, March 2, 2011).

Also this week, Doak announced he asked the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office to investigate whether the Federal Insurance Office is constitutional. Doak said the FIO, which was created under the Dodd-Frank Act, may not be in line with the McCarren-Ferguson Act of 1945, which granted the authority to regulate insurance to the states.

“The Dodd-Frank Act and the Federal Office of Insurance is something I view as duplicative and another overreach of the federal government,” Doak said. “These issues are things that I think should make us ask the questions: What are the plans for the federal government? Why do we need a Federal Office of Insurance when state-based regulation has worked for many, many years?”

Doak’s questions about the FIO’s constitutionality come as the agency works to release a much anticipated report on the state of the U.S. insurance industry. The report was set to be released in January, but the Treasury Department announced in early February that it would be delayed by several weeks (Best’s News Service, Feb. 2, 2011).

Meanwhile, Doak is also overseeing a national summit on tornado preparedness, which will kick off on March 11. The subject of the summit took on increased importance during the weekend of the NAIC meeting as dozens of tornadoes slammed through parts of the Midwest and Southeast, killing dozens of people. As of the morning of March 3, Missouri Insurance Commissioner John Huff had already left the meeting to oversee response efforts after parts of his state were ravaged by tornadoes.

Doak said during the 72-hour period prior to the NAIC meeting, roughly 92 tornadoes touched down across the country. “Oklahoma has faced this issue for a long time. But Tornado Alley seems to be stretching across the United States, as we saw in Kentucky and Mississippi during just the last 24 to 48 hours,” Doak said.

(By Jeff Jeffrey, Washington Correspondent: jeff.jeffrey@ambest.com)

Originally Posted at InsuranceNewsNet on March 3, 2012 by Jeff Jeffrey.