Meet Insurance Commissioner Goodwin at Upcoming Fundraisers in Raleigh, Asheville, Greensboro

You are cordially invited to the

2nd ANNUAL FALL FUNDRAISER for

NC INSURANCE COMMISSIONER WAYNE GOODWIN

Monday, Sept. 27, 2010
5:30-7:30 pm

Marriott Center City – Downtown Raleigh
Next to Convention Center

Sponsor Levels: $1000 - $500 - $250

General Admission: $100/person

If you're unable to attend, then please consider an online donation of $50 or $25 instead to help Wayne reach his campaign's fundraising goal for the year.

Make your individual personal check or PAC check out to:

The Goodwin Committee
P.O. Box 27841
Raleigh, NC 27611

Or, you may present it at the reception registration table. No corporate, lobbyist, insurance company/insurance industry, or business checks.

Or, you may contribute securely online by clicking here.

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If you cannot attend in Raleigh, you are cordially invited to the

Western North Carolina Salute to

NC INSURANCE COMMISSIONER WAYNE GOODWIN

Monday, Oct. 11, 2010
5:30-7:30 pm

Renaissance Hotel – Downtown Asheville - 31 Woodfin Street

Sponsor Levels: $1000 - $500 - $250

General Admission: $100/person

If you're unable to attend, then please consider an online donation of $50 or $25 instead to help Wayne reach his campaign's fundraising goal for the year.

Make your individual personal check or PAC check out to “The Goodwin Committee”.

Please either return your check by mailing it to
P.O. Box 27841, Raleigh NC 27611 or presenting it at the reception registration table. No corporate, lobbyist, insurance company/insurance industry, or business checks.

Or, you may contribute securely online by clicking here.

For more information, go to www.waynegoodwin.org or call (910)997-1301.

Take either opportunity to meet our State's Commissioner of Insurance.And, please spread the word among fellow professionals, friends, and supporters.

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Less than three weeks earlier, supporters of Insurance Commissioner Goodwin will host a Triad Area Fundraiser Reception in Greensboro on September 23rd. For details, please go to this link here.

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Paid for and authorized by The Goodwin Committee. Not paid for by government funds or resources. This campaign committee shall NOT intentionally solicit and shall NOT accept contributions from NC lobbyists or insurance industry PACs. If any such person or entity receives notice of this event then it is for information only or is to be completely disregarded.

An Inspirational Story: WRAL-TV Highlights the Perseverance of Gloria Williams in her Fight Against Insurance Giant

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and the Department of Insurance assist almost one hundred thousand North Carolinians every year with insurance complaints and concerns.

However, occasionally consumers fight the fight themselves. Most often they don't win on their own.

But one inspiring example of a consumer who fought an insurance giant and won is at this link to WRAL-TV's special coverage that aired on August 30th.... Or, you can watch the embedded news link accompanying this blog post.
As he told WRAL-TV,

"North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin deals with thousands of insurance complaints every year. He said he knows it can be daunting to face off with a big insurance company, but says Williams' case should serve as an example.

'It’s actually inspiring, encouraging. I’m glad that we had someone like her who did put her foot down and fought on this,' he said. 'Some folks give up, but I hope this is an example of what they should do. And that’s not give up.'”

God bless you, Gloria Williams!

Triad Area (Greensboro/Winston-Salem) Fundraiser for NC Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin

NC Senator and Mrs. Don Vaughan
cordially invite you
to the


TRIAD AREA FUNDRAISER RECEPTION

for NC Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin
September 23, 2010 (Thursday)

5:30-7:30 pm

902 Sunset Drive, Greensboro

Sponsorship Levels: $1000 - $500 - $250

Suggested Donation: $100/person

Please make your personal or PAC check out to
"The Goodwin Committee"
and mail to P.O. Box 27841, Raleigh NC 27611;

OR, go online to this link or via www.waynegoodwin.org to make your
secure contribution.

All Sponsors will be recognized at the reception.

For more information, email info@waynegoodwin.org or mberaleigh@gmail.com.

Provided solely by The Goodwin Committee. No government resources were used in this communication or the fundraising reception.

State Fire Marshal Wayne Goodwin Welcomes Johnny Gage of "Emergency!" to NC

Insurance Commissioner Goodwin welcomed to North Carolina the one and only Randolph Mantooth, star of the hit 70s show "Emergency!". Mantooth and Goodwin, who also serves as State Fire Marshal, attended last week's N.C. State Firemen's Association and NC Association of Fire Chiefs annual meeting. They also both delivered remarks at the opening ceremony.

Insurance Commissioner Goodwin: NCDOI Awarded $1 Million Grant

Monies Will Be Used to Bolster Consumer Outreach, Rate Reviews, Better Government

North Carolina has been awarded a $1 million grant from the federal government, and NC Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his Department team are anxious to use it for enhanced consumer outreach and consumer participation in the review of rate filings by health insurers.

"A little over a month ago, our staff submitted the premium review assistance grant to the federal government. I am pleased that North Carolina was approved for this funding," said Commissioner Goodwin. "The Department of Insurance has a lot of work ahead of us to implement the new federal health care reform initiatives. We will use this federal funding to review our existing procedures, hire new staff and improve consumer outreach specific to approving rate changes to health insurance plans."

Furthermore:

The Department's grant application identified the following measures to improve the rate review process in North Carolina:

Seek outside review of actuarial processes to determine areas of improvement in the process.

Seek additional authority to expand prior rate approval to small and large employer group health and association group health plans via the N.C. General Assembly.

Hire additional staff to accommodate increased rate filings and their review.

Increase transparency and accessibility:

Improve the access and readability of rate filings that are currently posted on the Department's website.

Seek authority via the N.C. General Assembly to require insurers to create consumer-friendly summaries and increased public information for rate filings.

Seek input and consider planning for public comment and public hearings on rate requests.

To learn more, go to this link.

"Not only is this news about 'good government,' it's about better government," said Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin: Fraud Fighter and Capeless Crusader

Fighting insurance crime doesn't require a cape and secret identity in North Carolina.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his stellar team of sworn law enforcement officers in the Department of Insurance have cracked down on insurance fraud with a vengeance.

Note the reports linked here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. This is merely a representative sample from the last two months.

These results are not surprising in light of both the rise in insurance fraud during economic downturns such as now and the lengthy history of fraud fighting that North Carolina's insurance regulator has had over the years: Goodwin's Criminal Investigations Division is the oldest of its kind in the nation, and celebrates 65 years of service this year.

To date in 2010, Goodwin and his expert criminal investigators have seen more than 165 cases successfully closed with more than $5.8 million in restitution and recoveries, 40 criminal convictions and more than 65 arrests. Last year Goodwin's administration recovered approximately $10.2 million in restitution for North Carolina families and businesses.

It's also important to note that an estimated 10 cents of every dollar paid in premiums goes toward the payment of fraudulent claims. To report suspected fraud, contact the Department of Insurance Criminal Investigations Division at 919-807-6840. Callers may remain anonymous. Information is also available at www.ncdoi.com.

Keep in mind that Insurance Commissioner Goodwin has already been described by an "Under the Dome" blogger for the Raleigh News & Observer in October 2009 as

"apparently an action hero, by elected-official standards."

NC Insurance Commissioner Goodwin, Dept of Insurance Receive National Praise for Coastal Insurance Approach

Recognized as One of Top 3 States to "Get Heads Out of the Sand" and Best Prepared for "the Big One," the next major hurricane hit

Following up on recognition from business, industry, consumer, and political leaders across the United States and especially in the Southeast over the last year, NC Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his team of experts received yet another dose of praise this week for their hard on coastal insurance reforms.

In particular, John Lobart penned:

The trade and mainstream press will soon be filled with articles commenting on the five-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina—the largest insurance event in history and certainly one of the deadliest. Rather than look at the accumulated statistics, I thought it would be interesting to ask the question, “Have the Atlantic and Gulf Coast state insurance markets prepared for the next big hurricane?”

Looking back over the past five years, Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina get my vote as states that are clearly better prepared to handle the Big One then they were five years ago. ...

North Carolina pulled its head out of the sand and tackled beach plan reform in 2009. Then newly elected Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin made it clear that it would not be business as usual as it had been under long-time Commissioner Jim Long. Commissioner Goodwin and his staff worked diligently on a beach plan funding compromise guaranteed to make everyone unhappy—and that’s a good thing. The 2009 reform effort included reducing available limits in the Beach Plan (to throw out the wealthiest homes), providing for a huge (but consistently predictable) nonrecoupable assessment upon insurers to fund Beach Plan shortfalls, and providing for surcharges on policyholders statewide if needed to fund the most devastating losses. This last provision was certainly a hard one to sell (especially for an elected Commissioner). But for a state where coastal tourism benefits the entire state, it’s fair. The North Carolina reform law also puts pressure on the Beach Plan board to maintain adequate reinsurance, arguably the number one factor in bringing confidence to the private market as a well-funded residual market significantly reduces the likelihood of post-loss assessments.

Lobart is a legislative and regulatory affairs lawyer whose firm, Lobert Legislative & Regulatory Consulting, provides public policy advice.

"Ultimately," said Commissioner of Insurance Wayne Goodwin, "we have better protected consumers on the coast and beach of the State while preventing a massively unstable insurance market in North Carolina. Doing nothing was not an option, but doing something was not going to be pain-free. We are better prepared, and have enacted mitigation credits, a fairer system that protects the whole state, and a set of reforms that were long overdue."

Through Goodwin's leadership, insurance rates in North Carolina on homeowners' insurance - as well as automobile and workers comp - have remained some of the very best in the nation, especially in the South.

Further, Goodwin has also made a strong policy of greater transparency and public participation in the process of insurance regulation in the Tar Heel state.

Leadership, competence, consumer protection, transparency, public participation, and fair ratemaking are pillars in the Goodwin administration.

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Photo: courtesy NOAA.