Nevada Insurance Commissioner Announces Resignation Effective July 2
June 16, 2015 by Thomas Harman
Nevada Insurance Commissioner Scott Kipper has announced his resignation from the post at the state Division of Insurance effective July 2, but he did so without any public explanation.
Kipper has neither specified a reason for his departure, nor indicated any importance to the July 2 resignation date, according to Yeraldin Deavila, public information officer. There have been no discussions yet as to his successor, she said.
Kipper’s resignation will close his second term as commissioner, which he began in October 2011.
Prior to his arrival, Nevada had four insurance commissioners in the prior three years, including Kipper’s first term that lasted from December 2008 to June 2010. When appointed to his first term, Kipper succeeded Alice Molasky-Arman, who had served under three governors and held the job longer than any commissioner in state history (Best’s News Service, Aug. 2, 2011).
During his latest tenure, Kipper implemented a federally operated health insurance exchange to meet Affordable Care Act requirements. Kipper also has had oversight of a rapidly growing captive sector. In 2014, 26 new licensed captives increased the number operating the state to 160 and bumped premiums by $3.8 billion (Best’s News Service, March 9, 2015).
Kipper also served on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ executive committee and is a member of the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance within the Department of Treasury. The FACI was created to provide the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office with advice on issues related to the insurance industry.
Kipper also served a brief stint as Oregon Insurance Division administrator, leaving after 10 months in October 2008. He arrived in Oregon after being deputy commissioner for the Louisiana Department of Insurance’s health insurance office before replacing Joel Ario, who became insurance commissioner of Pennsylvania. Kipper’s Oregon replacement, Teresa Miller, was in recent weeks confirmed as the Pennsylvania state insurance commissioner.
Prior to his Louisiana post, Kipper was the senior regional director of state affairs for America’s Health Insurance Plans and government relations manager for General Electric Capital Assurance Co. He also worked as an NAIC health analyst and spent 10 years in Wyoming state government and industry (Best’s News Service, Oct. 17, 2008).
At NAIC, he chaired the NAIC’s senior issues task force when it generated changes to the Long-Term Care Insurance Model Regulation to increase actuarial certification requirements, while tightening language on consumer disclosures regarding rate increases (Best’s News Service, Aug. 22, 2014).