The Delaware Department of Insurance (DOI) has published its annual performance and productivity data, indicating continued success in serving consumers throughout the state. DOI is made up of 98 employees, including 12 new team members. The state’s commissioner Trinidad Navarro holds national convenings to address the improper marketing of health plans. These meetings have enhanced regulators’ ability to address ‘junk plans’ and other bad actors, the department says. This year, the department also made progress through the implementation of healthcare affordability standards and an increase in investment in primary care. This was in addition to the expansion of options on the health insurance marketplace. Direct consumer assistance programmes, such as those within the Delaware Medicare Assistance Bureau continued to report strong results, hosting 5123 one-on-one counselling sessions, saving beneficiaries a combined US$1.5 million. The Delaware Consumer Services Division managed more than 3459 complaints and inquiries. Helping residents address claim settlement issues outside of court, the Legal Division reported 268 settled arbitration cases resulted in awards totalling more than US$690,000. On top of the sixth consecutive decrease in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, 1122 companies are saving a total of US$6,977, 337 on their costs through participating in the DOI’s Workplace Safety Program. The Fraud Bureau received 525 insurance fraud referrals and tips resulting in a combined total of 15 substantiated civil and criminal violations of Delaware’s insurance fraud laws, in addition to the collection of US$9,488 in civil penalties. In the past year, DOI worked with legislators to pass 20 DOI bills and engaged in approximately 50 others on topics ranging from consumer protection and product affordability to access to healthcare and medications. Commenting on the data, Navarro says: “In the face of inflation, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other challenges, our priority remains the same: the residents of our great state. Sharing these statistics each year gives consumers a glimpse into DOI’s broad array of work. “We’re expanding access to health insurance, fighting for affordable prescriptions, advocating for consumers in claims processing, and ensuring that carriers are complying with the law – and we’re not slowing down.”
