Maryland Insurance Administration remains fully operational during COVID-19 emergency

​BALTIMORE - The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) remains fully operational during the COVID-19 State of Emergency with no interruption to the agency’s mission serving consumers and the state’s insurance industry.

“Like many government agencies and private employees across our state and country, we have primarily shifted to telework to protect our employees, their families and the people we serve,” said Commissioner Al Redmer, Jr. “But I’m very proud of the resilience of our team. We continue to fulfill our duties, efficiently and effectively, in this time of crisis – a time when health insurance issues, in particular, are at the forefront.”

Since Governor Larry Hogan implemented mandatory telework for Maryland state government employees on March 13, the Maryland Insurance Administration’s activity has remained robust:

• The Life and Health Unit received 263 new complaints and closed 350 existing investigations.
• Appeals and Grievances received 76 new complaints and closed 101 existing investigations.
• The Property and Casualty Unit has received more than 80 rate relief filings from insurance companies in response to COVID-19, and 60 of those involved premium refunds or credits to policyholders. In addition, the unit received 652 consumer complaints and closed 809.
• Compliance and Enforcement opened 37 new investigations into complaints against licensees. During the same period, the unit closed 24 investigations and completed six orders taking action against producers.
• The Consumer Education and Advocacy Unit’s Rapid Response Program, which aims to resolve property and casualty insurance disputes quickly, closed 156 cases and received 128 new ones.
• The Office of the Chief Actuary completed analysis of 59 insurance company rate filings and began review of 47 more.
• Transparency remains crucial to the MIA core mission. The Office of Communications logged 58 Public Information Act requests.

“These numbers are just a sampling of the work the Maryland Insurance Administration continues to do each and every day,” Redmer said. “MIA employees remain dedicated to serving  the citizens of Maryland.”