Pennsylvania Governor-Elect Taps Former Oregon Administrator as New Insurance Commissioner
January 14, 2015 by Thomas Harman, associate editor, BestWeek: Tom.Harman@ambest.com
YORK, Pa. – Teresa Miller, a former Oregon Insurance Division administrator who helped the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services implement the Affordable Care Act, has been selected as Pennsylvania’s new insurance commissioner by Gov.-elect Tom Wolf.
Miller will succeed outgoing Commissioner Michael Consedine, who was also the president-elect of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. He recently told Best’s News Service that Wolf had notified him he would be replaced when Wolf takes office. Consedine said there were differences in insurance policy Wolf wanted to pursue (Best’s News Service, Jan. 9, 2015).
Wolf said in a statement Miller has extensive experience at both the state and federal levels and cited her recognition by the NAIC’s consumer representatives in 2011 for excellence in consumer advocacy for her work in improving Oregon’s rate review process as commissioner.
Miller, 39, comes to Pennsylvania’s post from her current job as a partner at the Washington law firm of Crowell & Moring, where she focused on matters concerning ACA implementation and enforcement.
Wolf defeated incumbent Republican Gov. Tom Corbett in November. Wolf’s campaign promised to accept the full Medicaid expansion as part of options under the ACA. Corbett instituted a program offering residents a low-cost health insurance option.
In Oregon, Miller was appointed as acting administrator on Nov. 1, 2008, and became the administrator on July 1, 2009. Miller left the office in November 2011 to become a senior adviser to Steve Larsen, director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She served as acting director of the State Exchanges Group, the Oversight Group and the Insurance Programs Group at the CCIIO’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, helping to issue rules and guide implementation of ACA provisions.