Sixteen months after appointing Beth Sammis as acting Maryland insurance commissioner, Gov. Martin O’Malley has to make another appointment to the position.

A bill prohibiting specific uses of funds from the Maryland Automobile Insurance Fund may not have been acted upon this year, but the anger by state legislators is likely to result in the matter being revisited in the next General Assembly session.

As agent groups in Maryland await word of who will be their next insurance commissioner, they are hoping Ralph S. Tyler’s successor mirrors his open communication style.

Two reports – one prepared for two Maryland insurance industry trade groups and the other for a general agency operating in the state – reach a similar conclusion: that the Maryland system for delivering health insurance works better than the Massachusetts health exchange.

With the impact of numerous budget cuts still being addressed and a $2 billion state budget deficit anticipated in the next fiscal year, Maryland legislators will spend more time on budget discussions than other legislative changes, including those affecting the insurance industry.

After nearly a year of negotiations by numerous interests, a bill clarifying insurance for condominiums in the state is ready to become law.

At press time, Gov. Martin O’Malley had not …  Read →