Goodwin: State Can Act on Health Insurance

Wed, Sep 17, 2008

Seeking insurance commissioner job

The Democratic candidate for state commissioner of insurance said Tuesday “North Carolina shouldn’t wait on Washington” to make health insurance more affordable.

“The federal government usually doesn’t do anything fast or well,” said Wayne Goodwin, who made a brief stop in Elizabeth City on the way to a meeting in Manteo regarding homeowners’ insurance in coastal areas.

Goodwin said his three and a half years as assistant insurance commissioner gives him “a working knowledge of ways to make health insurance more affordable and more accessible.” A larger pool lets more people bear the risk at a lower rate, he said.

Goodwin said he co-sponsored the state’s Children’s Health Insurance Program legislation while representing Richmond, Scotland, Montgomery and Stanly counties in the General Assembly.

“North Carolina should continue to be a leader in providing tax credits and incentives for small businesses that offer health insurance as a benefit,” Goodwin said. “We need more of that and the credit needs to be greater so that more small businesses can benefit from that option.”

On the subject of auto insurance, he said the state needs to strengthen penalties for uninsured motorists.

“There should be zero tolerance for people operating vehicles on our highways without insurance,” he said.

Goodwin explained he was in the northeastern section of North Carolina Tuesday to meet with community leaders and local insurance representatives on how best to maintain a competitive market for coastal homeowners’ insurance given the constant threat of storms.

The state has “dodged a bullet” recently but is due for another major storm, he said. The state needs adequate reserves to help coastal North Carolina recover from storms, he said.

It’s imperative for the next commissioner of insurance to learn from mistakes made by Florida and other Gulf Coast states in order to avoid an exodus of insurance companies from the state’s coastal region.

Noting the commissioner of insurance serves as the state fire marshal, Goodwin promised to be “the voice of fire and rescue services across the state.” He said he had worked as assistant commissioner to expand the state’s grant program for fire and rescue departments.

More than three-fourths of his home county, Richmond, is served by rural volunteer fire departments, he said.

Better-equipped fire departments mean lower insurance for homeowners, he said.

Goodwin pledged to seek regular increases in the grant awards to eligible fire departments across the state. He said he would take the lead to provide incentives — such things as tax deductions and college tuition waivers — to recruit and retain volunteer firefighters.

He also said the state should provide funding assistance so all volunteer departments can hire at least one part-time person to improve continuity and response times.

The state needs to increase pensions for volunteer firefighters, he said. “It helps families when their loved one has served in the department for many years to have that assistance.”

The money for the volunteer fire department grant program comes from the insurance companies through the gross premiums tax, he said, promising to resist efforts to reduce or eliminate the tax.

“That would do irreparable harm to the fire departments and the firefighters of this state,” he said.

And doing away with the grant funds would cause increases in property taxes around the state, he said.

“That is unacceptable,” Goodwin said. “It is reckless for anyone as insurance commissioner to say they want to eliminate this fund.”

Source : http://www.dailyadvance.com/