Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner

The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance of Wisconsin is an independent agency of the Wisconsin state government responsible for supervising and regulating the insurance industry in Wisconsin. The office licenses insurers operating in the state, examines their financial and business practices, investigates consumer complaints, ensures compliance with state laws and regulations, and provides information on the insurance industry to the public.

The Office is headquartered in the State Education Building, or GEF-3, in downtown Madison, Wisconsin.

History
The insurance business was first authorized and regulated in Wisconsin in 1870 (1870 Wisc. Act 56). The original law vested insurance regulation as a power of the Secretary of State of Wisconsin. These powers were transferred to a separate commissioner of insurance by an act of the Wisconsin Legislature in 1878 (1878 Wisc. Act 214). The office was initially designed as a gubernatorial appointee, and the first insurance commissioner, Philip L. Spooner, Jr., was appointed by Governor William E. Smith. In 1881, however, a new act of the Legislature (1881 Wisc. Act 300) converted the appointed office into a state-wide elected office. This continued until 1911, when the office was converted back into a gubernatorial appointee.

Organization
The senior leadership of the Office consists of the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner, along with the administrators and directors of the internal divisions of the Office.


 * Commissioner: Nathan Houdek
 * Deputy Commissioner: Rachel Cissne Carabell
 * Administrator of Financial Regulation: Amy Malm
 * Administrator of Market Regulation & Enforcement: Rebecca Rebholz
 * Director of Operational Management: Jesse Patchak
 * Director of Public Affairs: Sarah Smith
 * Director of the Office of Administrative Services: Kristina Thole
 * Chief Legal Counsel: Richard Wicka

Subordinate boards
Separate from the ordinary organizational structure of the Office, there are a number of commissions and boards created by acts of the Wisconsin Legislature to oversee, advise, or administer certain funds.
 * Board of Directors of the Insurance Security Fund
 * Board of Governors of the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund / Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan
 * Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund Peer Review Council