NAIC Names 2023 Consumer Liaison Representatives
The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) recently named 41 consumer liaison representatives for 2023. The 24 funded and 17 unfunded consumer representatives began their terms Jan. 1. Twenty-one of the funded consumer representatives and 15 of the unfunded representatives participated in the program in 2022.
Established in 1992, the Consumer Liaison Program promotes consumer interaction with the NAIC's members, the insurance industry, and interested parties through individual consumer representatives’ dedication and commitment to serving the public interest.
“Protecting our consumers is our top priority, and that is why we depend so heavily on our consumer liaison representatives to provide our regulators with important and critical feedback,” said Chlora Lindley-Myers, NAIC President and Director of the Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance. “The NAIC and the states are always looking out for the best interest of our consumers in all decisions that we make.”
The 2023 Funded Consumer Liaison Representatives (24)
New funded representatives are noted with an asterisk.
Amy Bach: Executive Director, United Policyholders
Kellan Baker: Executive Director and Chief Learning Officer, Whitman-Walker Institute
Birny Birnbaum: Executive Director, Center for Economic Justice
Ashley Blackburn*: Director of Private Insurance and Prescription Drug Reform, Health Care For All
Brendan M. Bridgeland: Director, Center for Insurance Research
Bonnie Burns: Consultant to Consumer Groups
Tasha Carter: Insurance Consumer Advocate, Florida Department of Financial Services, Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate
Symone N. Crawford: Executive Director, Massachusetts Affordable Housing Alliance
Brenda J. Cude: Professor Emeritus, University of Georgia
Michael DeLong: Research and Advocacy Associate, Consumer Federation of America
Yosha P. Dotson: Policy and Technical Analyst, Georgians for a Healthy Future
Erica Eversman: President, Automotive Education & Policy Institute
Charlotte Hoffman*: Senior Policy Counsel, National Center for Transgender Equality
Karrol Kitt: Associate Professor Emeritus, Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin
Peter R. Kochenburger: Visiting Professor of Law, Southern University Law Center
Maanasa Kona: Assistant Research Professor, Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance Reforms
Natasha Kumar: Policy Analyst, Families USA
Erin Miller: Vice President, Health Initiatives, Colorado Children’s Campaign
Karen Siegel: Director of Policy, Health Equity Solutions
Harold M. Ting: Health Care Consumer Advocate
Wayne Turner: Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program
Richard Weber*: President and Chief Consultant, Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center LLC
Jackson Williams: Vice President, Public Policy, Dialysis Patient Citizens
Silvia Yee: Senior Staff Attorney and Policy Analyst, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
The 2023 Unfunded Consumer Representatives (17)
New unfunded representatives are noted with an asterisk.
David Arkush: Director, Climate Program, Public Citizen
Lucy Culp: Executive Director, State Government Affairs, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
Deborah Darcy: Senior Director of Government Relations, American Kidney Fund
Shamus Durac: Senior Attorney/Health Policy Analyst, Rhode Island Parent Information Network
Eric Ellsworth: Director, Health Data Strategy, Consumers’ Checkbook/Center for the Study of Services
Kelly Headrick: Senior Director, State Government Affairs and Grassroots Advocacy, Autism Speaks
Marguerite Herman: Lobbyist, Healthy Wyoming
Kara Hinkley*: National Vice President, State Policy, The Amylotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association
Anna Schwamlein Howard: Policy Principal, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
Janay Johnson: National Senior Policy Analyst, American Heart Association
Kenneth S. Klein: Professor of Law, California Western School of Law
Rachel K. Klein: Deputy Executive Director, The AIDS Institute
Dorianne Mason: Director of Health Equity, National Women’s Law Center
Colin Reusch: Senior Advisor for Oral Health Policy, Community Catalyst Inc.
Carl Schmid: Executive Director, HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute
Matthew J. Smith: Executive Director, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud
Caitlin Westerson*: State Partnerships and External Affairs Director, United States of Care
About the National Association of Insurance Commissioners
As part of our state-based system of insurance regulation in the United States, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) provides expertise, data, and analysis for insurance commissioners to effectively regulate the industry and protect consumers. The U.S. standard-setting organization is governed by the chief insurance regulators from the 50 states, the District of Columbia and five U.S. territories. Through the NAIC, state insurance regulators establish standards and best practices, conduct peer reviews, and coordinate regulatory oversight. NAIC staff supports these efforts and represents the collective views of state regulators domestically and internationally.