This afternoon is the hearing in Dover about the Insurance Commissioner’s job performance. The hearing is supposed to cover the denial of coverage for stress tests for Delaware residents and the Captive Insurance Bureau but I imagine a lot of issues will arise in the hearing. I know that our very own liberalgeek plans on attending so you might see live coverage right here on the blog.
The News Journal adds some fuel to the fire by publishing two front page articles on the IC’s office. One article is about the how the denial of a stress test by the same company that was evaluating requests by BCBS of Delaware may have led to a death. The other article covers some of KWS’s hiring practices, including the hiring of Kinion for the Captive Insurance Bureau and some shoddy RFPs. As you no doubt know, here at Delaware Liberal we discussed the shoddy RFPs last year. See posts here, here, here, here, here and here.
Delaware Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart failed to conduct a publicly advertised search last year before handing out state consulting contracts worth more than half a million dollars annually to three people to run the Bureau of Captive and Financial Insurance Products.
Stewart and members of her staff acknowledge that no formal proposals were sought before contracts were signed with the consultants, who were supporters of Stewart’s 2008 election campaign.
Hey, we’re glad the News Journal finally noticed but these issues have been occuring since Stewart came into office.
Her office is a separate branch under the state Constitution from the executive branch topped by the governor and may not be subject to Office of Management and Budget regulations requiring formal bidding for such service contracts. OMB officials directed requests for clarification to a section of state code that did not clearly resolve the question.
Stewart’s office ultimately did issue requests for proposals (RFPs) for two positions — one for a lawyer, another for a marketer — after contracts were signed. That came after a request for RFPs by OMB. The requests for proposals elicited no response.
The IC’s office may be treated separately under Delaware’s Constitution but that doesn’t mean it’s not subject to oversight. Oversight is desperately needed in this case and I hope one outcome of today’s hearings is that the legislature addresses these loopholes.