Yesterday, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently named 29 consumer liaison representatives for 2013. We are proud that Elizabeth Abbott, our director of administrative advocacy, continues in this crucial role, at a crucial time when the NAIC is making formative decisions on the future of health insurance oversight.
The 29 consumer representatives begin their terms Jan. 1, 2013, and they are often outnumbered by literally hundreds of insurance industry lobbyists on phone calls and meetings. But they do crucial work in guiding model regulations that are the guidelines for 50 state insurance commissioners and regulators.
The following are the 2013 NAIC funded consumer liaison representatives:
* Elizabeth Abbott: Project Director, Health Access
* Amy Bach: Executive Director, United Policyholders
* Birny Birnbaum: Center for Economic Justice
* Brendan M. Bridgeland: Director, Center for Insurance Research
* Bonnie Burns: Training and Policy Specialist, California Health Advocate
* Sabrina Corlette: Research Professor, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute
* Brenda J. Cude: Professor, University of Georgia
* Joseph P. Ditre’: Executive Director, Consumers for Affordable Health Care
* Kathleen Gmeiner: Project Director, UHCAN Ohio
* Timothy Stoltzfus Jost: Professor, Washington and Lee University School of Law
* Karrol Kitt: Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin
* Peter Kochenburger: Executive Director, Insurance Law Center, UConn School of Law
* Sonja L. Larkin-Thorne: Consumer Advocate
* Adam Linker: Health Policy Analyst, North Carolina Justice Center
* Sarah Lueck: Health Policy Analyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
* Jennifer Mishory: Deputy Director, Young Invincibles
* Andrea Routh: Executive Director, Missouri Health Advocacy Alliance
* Daniel Schwarcz: Associate Professor of Law, University of Minnesota Law School
* Barbara Yondorf: Board Member, Colorado Consumer Health Initiative
* Cindy Zeldin: Executive Director, Georgians for a Healthy Future
* Christine Barber: Senior Policy Analyst, Community Catalyst*
* Stephen Finan: Senior Director of Policy, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
* Carrie Fitzgerald: Senior Policy Advisor for Health, First Focus
* Howard Goldblatt: Director of Government Affairs, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
* Marguerite Herman: Project Healthcare, Consumer Advocates
* Stephanie Mohl: Government Relations Manager, American Heart Association
* Lincoln Nehring: Senior Health Policy Analyst, Voices for Utah Children*
* Lynn Quincy: Senior Policy Analyst, Consumers Union
* Stuart Spielman: Senior Policy Advisor and Counsel, Autism Speaks