Group rates Louisiana last in insurance regulation; lawmaker says reform will be hot topic in 2020
Louisiana finished last for the second year in a row in the R Street Institute’s Insurance Regulation Report Card.
The Washington D.C. think tank bills itself as a conservative and libertarian policy research institute that watches the national insurance industry.
“The Pelican State has the worst insurance regulatory environment in the country,” R Street’s report said.
Louisiana is one of 12 states in the nation with an elected insurance commissioner, a strike against it, as far as R Street is concerned.
“There is just no winning in their formula for us,” John Tobler, deputy commissioner of public affairs with the Louisiana Department of Insurance, told the Record. “Out of the gate in R Street’s rating formula, we start out with a ‘C’ because we have an elected insurance commissioner and our structure requires prior review and approval of rates.”
Again this year, the R Street Report faulted Louisiana for its insurance oversight system.
“Louisiana employs a stringent system of rate regulation, which no doubt contributes to the lack of competition in its auto insurance market,” the report said.
