The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin is an independent agency of the

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonomy, or ...

responsible for supervising and regulating the insurance industry in Wisconsin. The office licenses insurers operating in the state, examines their financial and business practices, investigates consumer complaints, ensures compliance with state laws and regulations, and provides information on the insurance industry to the public. The Office is headquartered in the State Education Building, or GEF-3, in downtown

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...

History

The insurance business was first authorized and regulated in Wisconsin in 1870
1870 Wisc. Act 56
. The original law vested insurance regulation as a power of the

Secretary of State of Wisconsin The Secretary of State of Wisconsin is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the government of the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and is second (behind the Lieutenant Governor) in the line of succession to the office of Governor of Wiscon ...

. These powers were transferred to a separate commissioner of insurance by an act of the

Wisconsin Legislature The Wisconsin Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Legislature is a bicameral body composed of the upper house, Wisconsin State Senate, and the lower Wisconsin State Assembly, both of which have had Republican ...

in 1878
1878 Wisc. Act 214
. The office was initially designed as a gubernatorial appointee, and the first insurance commissioner, Philip L. Spooner, Jr., was appointed by Governor William E. Smith. In 1881, however, a new act of the Legislature
1881 Wisc. Act 300
converted the appointed office into a state-wide elected office. This continued until 1911, when the office was converted back into a gubernatorial appointee.

Organization

The senior leadership of the Office consists of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, along with the administrators and directors of the internal divisions of the Office. * Commissioner: Nathan Houdek * Deputy Commissioner: Rachel Cissne Carabell * Administrator of Financial Regulation: Amy Malm * Administrator of Market Regulation & Enforcement: Rebecca Rebholz * Director of Operational Management: Jesse Patchak * Director of Public Affairs: Sarah Smith * Director of the Office of Administrative Services: Kristina Thole * Chief Legal Counsel: Richard Wicka

Subordinate boards

Separate from the ordinary organizational structure of the Office, there are a number of commissions and boards created by acts of the Wisconsin Legislature to oversee, advise, or administer certain funds. * Board of Directors of the Insurance Security Fund * Board of Governors of the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund / Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan * Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund Peer Review Council

Commissioners

References

External links

Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of Insurance
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Insurance Commissioner An insurance commissioner (or commissioner of insurance) is a public official in the executive branch of a state or territory in the United States who, along with his or her office, regulate the insurance industry. The powers granted to the office ...

Government agencies established in 1878 1878 establishments in Wisconsin