This year's America's Claims Event (ACE) will open with an address by Scott J. Kipper, Nevada Commissioner of Insurance.

In a pre-conference interview, Kipper said he plans to talk about how to operate in the current environment, looking from a fiscal and regulatory perspective, and what it all means for claims. “What's that old Chinese curse or blessing? 'May you live in interesting times.' With all the different dynamics right now in our regulatory world of state versus federal, the low interest environment, all the scrutiny on investment banks and banking, international versus domestic industry… there's just so much going on. It's completely fascinating.”

Kipper says the state is very focused on “rates and rate making … making sure those rates are fair not discriminatory.” Nature also presents challenges for the state: “Nevada is facing a significant wildfire season,” he states. “We've already had two major wildfires in the winter and we have another one in process right now.”

Kipper also plans to emphasize issues on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) level, specifically “forced placement insurance on homes and automobiles.”

“We will also be dealing with auto insurance for low-income individuals,” Kipper continues. “For instance, how do you make insurance for low income individuals less costly? It's like squeezing a balloon: if you make that less costly it's going to become more costly for someone else. All this will trickle down into issues around claims, as it makes companies more cognizant of price management.”

While much of the reform will come from the upper levels, Kipper says that claims professionals “should be aware of the issues currently under review.”

Kipper's keynote will also draw on his health insurance background and the prominent effects of fraud. Kipper cited a recent report that attributed 10 percent of the cost of insurance premiums to fraud. “I believe that may be a little high, but it's certainly a significant contributor to the cost of insurance.”

Amid the uncertainty of the market and the challenges of his position, Kipper finds benefits as well: “The best part about the job is the variety of the issues we deal with on literally an hourly basis. We're talking about solvency of companies to preparing legislation to dealing with surplus life insurance. It's as varied as the day is long, and I think that's the real attractive part of it. There is no single day like any other.”

Kipper says attendees will leave his presentation with a better grasp of the P&C insurance market in Nevada and how to address intertwined issues in their own roles.

Special Reports /

ACE Sneak Peek: Kipper on Thriving In 'Interesting Times'

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