Latest news with #Moenck
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida lawmakers continue to press on in state's insurance investigation
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WFLA) — The insurance investigation continues at the statehouse with another hearing in the books. Lawmakers forge ahead, demanding more answers around who to hold accountable after the bombshell reporting revealed Florida insurers were shifting money while claiming to be broke. Even after a second hearing, the investigation wrapped up, there seems to be unfinished business. In the first hearing of the insurance investigation, lawmakers probed again and again the same question: Why wasn't the report released to the legislature during an insurance crisis? Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Michael Yaworsky claims the report was imperfect. 'Why we didn't make the particular findings of this report to you is mainly because it was in draft, and we don't make a business of providing information that we believe to be inaccurate or imperfect to the legislature,' said Yaworsky. However, in the second hearing of the investigation last week, the author of the study said it was actually complete. State Rep. Daniel Alvarez (R- Hillsborough County) questioned Jan Moenck, 'It is inaccurate for them to have said you were not finished, so either they weren't telling us the truth or you weren't telling the truth, which one was that?' Moenck, the author of the study, said that in her mind, she thought they had a final draft. 'In our mind, we had our final draft,' said lawmakers say there is clearly a big discrepancy between the two stories, both parties seem to agree that it is up to the client to decide when a report is finished.'What we feel is our responsibility is to provide, in our mind, a final draft to the client, and then they can take that and do with that what they want,' said Moenck. 'Will we be going back to OIR, being that what is being revealed basically says they lied to us, they had a completed report and did not let us know that it was completed,' questioned State Rep. Dianne Hart (D-Tampa). With even more concerns at the forefront, what's next for the investigation? Committee chairman Brad Yeager said there will be at least one more hearing scheduled to further investigate these concerns. Aside from the investigation, House Rep. Philip Wayne Griffitts (R-Panama City Beach) filed HB 881, which aims to follow the money in insurance concerns following the investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Insurance report's author's testimony raises more concerns for House panel
The coastline in Steinhatchee remains covered in debris on Oct. 3, 2024, following Hurricane Helene. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix) Testimony from the author of the 2022 report detailing how Florida property insurers gave millions to shareholders and billions to out-of-state affiliates while claiming financial ruin left some lawmakers on a House panel Thursday feeling like insurance regulators had lied to them. The report at issue has prompted legislators to seek greater oversight over the flow of money from insurers to affiliates. House members have also questioned former and sitting insurance commissioners, who struggled to explain why they didn't bring attention to the reports' findings in 2022. Jan Moenck, who wrote the report for Risk & Regulatory Consulting, told the Insurance & Banking Subcommittee Thursday that the firm submitted to the Office of Insurance Regulation its final draft on April 1, 2022, and didn't receive any feedback or requests for changes, so RRC considered its work done. Insurance regulators struggle to explain why stunning 2022 report wasn't made public That statement from Moenck prompted more questions from committee members, who heard testimony in March from OIR's former and sitting heads that the report hadn't been published because it was a draft and needed further review before release. 'You're at your final draft, so it is inaccurate for them to have said you were not finished. So either they weren't telling us the truth or you weren't telling the truth. Which one was that?' Riverview Republican Rep. Danny Alvarez asked Moenck. 'In our mind, we had our final draft,' Moenck responded under oath. The report sat until a Tampa Bay Times article brought it to the surface, highlighting how property insurers claimed losses following hurricanes Irma in 2017 and Michael in 2018, yet had paid $680 million in dividends to shareholders and billions in fees to affiliated companies for basic services. The panel signaled that it would try to get more answers from OIR, with the subcommittee chair, Port Richey Republican Rep. Brad Yeager, telling reporters that the lack of communication from the regulating office after RRC submitted the final draft was telling. Additionally, Yeager said, House Speaker Daniel Perez had authorized the subcommittee to find a firm to investigate shortcomings in the way regulators monitor insurer-affiliate relationships. Tampa Democratic Rep. Dianne Hart, during the Thursday meeting, asked whether there would be more testimony from OIR. 'What is being revealed basically says they lied to us. They had a completed report and did not let us know that it was completed,' she said. Not all lawmakers are convinced the Legislature should continue delving into the affiliate relationships. Delray Beach Republican Rep. Mike Caruso, a close ally of Gov. Ron DeSantis, used air quotes when talking about the investigation House Speaker Daniel Perez called for the subcommittee to carry out. Caruso said some of the insurance companies that appeared to syphon money to their affiliates were paying them to do all of the claims processing. But OIR Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, who assumed the role in early 2023, rejected the notion in a phone interview with the Phoenix that he lied to lawmakers. He told the panel on March 14 that OIR in 2022 was dealing with the insolvency of several companies and investigating other insurers. 'If there's a thought out there that OIR, or an OIR employee, or myself lied to them, that's just not accurate,' Yawaorsky said. 'I think what we're getting caught up in is the mechanics of how projects such as these are completed, typically.' The commissioner maintains that the report doesn't provide a full picture because several insurers didn't provide any or all information required for the analysis, which he emphasized wasn't Moenck's fault. 'There was extensive back and forth between the office and Moenck up to a certain point, and I think it seemed like it was the point that the market was collapsing that that communication stopped,' he said. 'It did seem to stop at a point with no additional follow-ups.' David Altmaier, OIR commissioner in 2022, echoed Yaworsky's sentiment about the frenzy in the industry at the time the office received the report. 'Hindsight being 20/20, there's probably some opportunities where I could have poked a little bit to make sure that this work was continuing. But, as the commissioner said, we were dealing with a lot,' Altmaier told lawmakers last month. Months after the office had the report, the Legislature met for a special session in December that resulted in changes making it harder for policyholders to sue insurers, who claimed frivolous lawsuits drove up insurance premiums. Lawmakers in the Insurance & Banking Subcommittee advanced a proposal, HB 881, that would require insurers to demonstrate that fees, commissions, and other payments to affiliates are fair and reasonable. The statutory lack of definition of fair and reasonable fees has also been at the center of discussions in the Legislature this year. The bill approved Thursday states that when weighing whether a fee or commission is fair and reasonable, OIR must look at the actual cost of the service the affiliate provided to the insurer, the financial condition of both companies, the level of debt, the amount and purpose of payments and dividends, whether the contract benefits the insurer, and other information the office needs to made the determination. However, similar bills appear stalled in the Senate at the midway point of the session. Yaworsky said the office would have a difficult time complying with a legislative demand to produce a similar report with more recent data. 'We're a pretty cash-strapped agency, and the House currently has us set to lose 20 full-time employees in their budget,' he said. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Florida regulators didn't follow up on insurance profits study, author says
TALLAHASSEE — Last month, Florida's current and former insurance regulators said the state never finished a 2022 study showing insurers losing millions of dollars while their affiliates were making billions. On Thursday, the author of that study said she believed it was completed and that regulators never told her it wasn't. 'In our mind, we had our final draft,' said Jan Moenck, an analyst with the Connecticut-based company hired by regulators to produce the report. To some lawmakers, the testimony appeared to contradict testimony by Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Mike Yaworsky and past Commissioner David Altmaier. 'What is being revealed basically said they lied to us,' said Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa. Yaworsky strongly denied that he misled lawmakers. 'The idea that I lied somehow around that is just flatly false,' he said after the hearing. Last month, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, ordered hearings by a House committee after the Times/Herald revealed that the state had commissioned a study examining insurers' use of affiliate companies. Florida-based insurance companies have long used affiliate companies, which charge the insurance company for services, such as handling claims or writing policies, sometimes at inflated prices. The state's study, capturing data between 2017 and 2019, was the deepest dive into the business practice. Moenck found that Florida-based insurers had a net loss of $432 million, while their affiliates had a net income of $1.8 billion. The industry overall spent $680 million on dividends to shareholders during the period. The report was produced in April 2022, at the height of the insurance crisis, but never given to lawmakers. Instead, lawmakers focused on making it harder to sue insurance companies. Altmaier, who commissioned the report, told lawmakers last month that the initial report 'certainly raised some red flags,' and his office intended to follow up. Yaworsky said he didn't learn of the report until October 2024, when the Times/Herald's lawyers demanded his office turn it over. The newspapers first requested it in 2022, before Altmaier left the office. Yaworsky said the report was incomplete because 23% of insurance companies never responded to the office's request for data and because it didn't provide the level of detail of insurers' finances that the state needed. Moenck agreed that it is up to the client to decide when a report is finished. She said more information on finances would be helpful but difficult to obtain. 'I don't know that a person would ever be able to capture that unless you had a forensic accountant looking at each company on an individual basis,' Moenck said. After turning over her report in 2022, she said she asked whether regulators wanted a verbal presentation about her findings or had any other questions. 'We did not receive any requests for additional work or follow-up on the reports,' Moenck said. Committee chairperson Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, said the fact that regulators didn't follow up was 'telling.' At least one more hearing, to find forensic accountants who can investigate further, will be scheduled, Yeager said. 'We've asked questions and we've gotten good answers, but I think those good answers have provided more questions and some concern,' he said. Earlier Thursday, his committee advanced a bill that would require insurance companies to turn over more details about their relationships with affiliate companies. 'The report, I think, made everybody step back,' said the bill sponsor, Rep. Griff Griffitts, R-Panama City Beach, referring to the 2022 report brought to light by the Times/Herald. Yaworsky said he welcomed getting more details about insurance companies' practices. He has asked for more oversight of insurers' affiliate companies. 'For years now, we have called for more scrutiny in this space,' Yaworsky said. 'We've gotten some, but at other times, the Legislature has said 'No thank you.''
Miami Herald
03-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
After study on insurer profits, Florida regulators didn't follow up, author says
Last month, Florida's current and former insurance regulators said the state never finished a 2022 study showing insurers losing millions of dollars while their affiliates were making billions. On Thursday, the author of that study said she believed it was completed and that regulators never told her it wasn't. 'In our mind, we had our final draft,' said Jan Moenck, an analyst with the Connecticut-based company hired by regulators to produce the report. To some lawmakers, the testimony appeared to contradict testimony by Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Mike Yaworsky and past Commissioner David Altmaier. 'What is being revealed basically said they lied to us,' said Rep. Dianne Hart, D-Tampa. Yaworsky strongly denied that he misled lawmakers. 'The idea that I lied somehow around that is just flatly false,' he said after the hearing. Last month, House Speaker Daniel Perez, R-Miami, ordered hearings by a House committee after the Herald/Times revealed that the state had commissioned a study examining insurers' use of affiliate companies. Florida-based insurance companies have long used affiliate companies, which charge the insurance company for services, such as handling claims or writing policies, sometimes at inflated prices. The state's study, capturing data between 2017 and 2019, was the deepest dive into the business practice. Moenck found that Florida-based insurers had a net loss of $432 million, while their affiliates had a net income of $1.8 billion. The industry overall spent $680 million on dividends to shareholders during the period. The report was produced in April 2022, at the height of the insurance crisis, but never given to lawmakers. Instead, lawmakers focused on making it harder to sue insurance companies. Altmaier, who commissioned the report, told lawmakers last month that the initial report 'certainly raised some red flags,' and his office intended to follow up. Yaworsky said he didn't learn of the report until October 2024, when the Herald/Times' lawyers demanded his office turn it over. The newspapers first requested it in 2022, before Altmaier left the office. Yaworsky said the report was incomplete because 23% of insurance companies never responded to the office's request for data and because it didn't provide the level of detail of insurers' finances that the state needed. Moenck agreed that it is up to the client to decide when a report is finished. She said more information on finances would be helpful but difficult to obtain. 'I don't know that a person would ever be able to capture that unless you had a forensic accountant looking at each company on an individual basis,' Moenck said. After turning over her report in 2022, she said she asked whether regulators wanted a verbal presentation about her findings or had any other questions. 'We did not receive any requests for additional work or follow-up on the reports,' Moenck said. Committee chairperson Brad Yeager, R-New Port Richey, said the fact that regulators didn't follow up was 'telling.' At least one more hearing, to find forensic accountants who can investigate further, will be scheduled, Yeager said. 'We've asked questions and we've gotten good answers, but I think those good answers have provided more questions and some concern,' he said. Earlier Thursday, his committee advanced a bill that would require insurance companies to turn over more details about their relationships with affiliate companies. 'The report, I think, made everybody step back,' said the bill sponsor, Rep. Griff Griffitts, R-Panama City Beach, referring to the 2022 report brought to light by the Herald/Times. Yaworsky said he welcomed getting more details about insurance companies' practices. He has asked for more oversight of insurers' affiliate companies. 'For years now, we have called for more scrutiny in this space,' Yaworsky said. 'We've gotten some, but at other times, the Legislature has said 'No thank you.''
