Enforcement actions rise against ND insurance agents
Published February 13, 2012, 07:11 AM Enforcement actions rise against N.D. insurance agents North Dakota has seen a substantial rise in the number of enforcement actions taken against insurance agents since 2009, a trend the state’s insurance commissioner attributes to agents taking more risks in a down economy and the hiring of a full-time investigator. An industry group leader says its a mixed blessing.By: Mike Nowatzki , Forum Communications
FARGO – North Dakota has seen a substantial rise in the number of enforcement actions taken against insurance agents since 2009, a trend the state’s insurance commissioner attributes to agents taking more risks in a down economy and the hiring of a full-time investigator.
An industry group leader said while he supports better enforcement to deter agents from unethical behavior and to catch consumer fraud, the publicity it generates can tarnish the reputation of an industry struggling to improve its image.
“It does give the industry a black eye,” said Steve Becher, executive director of the Professional Insurance Agents of North Dakota. “Every industry has their bad apples, and we wish we didn’t have them, but we do.”
The Insurance Department averaged 18 enforcement actions per year from 2002 to 2008.
The number of actions skyrocketed to 92 in 2009 and 70 in 2010, department figures show.
Statistics for 2011 were still incomplete, but figures available for two categories show license revocations were the most since at least 2002 and cease-and-desist orders were the most since 2003.
Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm, who was appointed to the job in October 2007 and elected to a four-year term in November 2008, said the economy is partly to blame.
“There is no question that over the past few years, with the downturn in the economy, we have seen in the Insurance Department some more agents that are taking risks and breaking the law,” he said. “And whenever that happens, there’s going to be consequences.
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North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Adam Hamm listens to healthcare agencies and providers in Bismarck at a Nov. 10, 2010, stakeholders meeting. (AP File Photo/The Bismarck Tribune, Mike McCleary) FARGO – North Dakota has seen a substantial rise in the
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By Maureen Gill
The York County Coast Star has done an excellent job of covering the York County Commissioners' refusal to release taxpayer dollars to the York County food pantry and Shelter; I especially applaud its spot-on editorial "Time for county to get its act together" (Feb. 2, 2012). Similar debates about the use of tax dollars to alleviate private suffering rage around the country and failure to reach a responsible middle ground is going to do irrevocable harm to the nation as well as to York County.
Therefore, I suggest we stop arguing about whether tax dollars should be spent on social welfare programs and instead begin to consider whether such programs are national defense measures.
Hungry people are not healthy, productive people; they are less likely to contribute to the economy as producers and consumers. They pose a public health problem, as do their children; they have more illnesses and disabilities and also their children do more poorly in school than well-fed children. Hungry people are desperate people and no nation is well served by a large underclass of desperate people. History is replete with examples of what happens when people become alienated, disenfranchised, and feel utterly hopeless and angry.
Chancellor Otto von Bismarck understood this well. Bismarck created the first welfare state in Germany in the 1880s. He was no dewy-eyed liberal; he was an aristocratic Prussian, pragmatist and staunch conservative. Bismarck introduced old age pensions, accident insurance, universal medical care (with an emphasis on maternal-child health care that dramatically reduced infant mortality and post-partum deaths), and unemployment insurance. Bismarck's government-funded programs won the support of German industrialists because they served the Empire's imperialistic aims and those aims served their interests as well.
These social programs were never reviled as socialistic. They were considered nationalistic and patriotic and anti-socialistic because they helped blunt the rising tide of socialism.