Small News/Politics Graphic Washington Insurance Commissioner Re-elected
From Natural Healthline

Washington state's embattled insurance commissioner Deborah Senn, a Democrat, who had been targeted for defeat by the insurance industry, easily won re-election to a second four-year term. Senn gained national attention during the past year by enthusiastically endorsing and marshalling the efforts of her office to enforce a new law enacted by the Washington legislature to ensure coverage for licensed practitioners of complementary alternative medicine by insurance companies doing business in the state.

The Seattle Times gave extensive coverage to the Senn race. On June 6, the paper reported:

Two things are obvious in early fund-raising reports in the race for insurance commissioner: The insurance industry wants Commissioner Deborah Senn out of office, while chiropractors and other practitioners of alternative medicine want to see her serve a second term. About 63 percent of the money raised by four Republican candidates [who want Senn's job] has come from the insurance industry. Three of the four work in the insurance industry. The fourth candidate says that makes him the best choice. Insurance interests want to defeat Senn, a first-term Democrat, because they believe she does not deal with them fairly and demonizes them in the name of standing up for consumers. . .

Senn's approach is supported by chiropractors, naturopaths, podiatrists, massage therapists and others labeled as alternative practitioners. While Senn has a broader base of contributors than her Republican opponents, $11,654 of the $90,000 she had raised as of last month came from such providers. That is the most any group of contributors has given Senn.

They want Senn around another four years because she has ruled that insurance companies must cover the costs of their services. Health-insurance companies say Senn is overstepping her authority and have challenged her interpretation of a 1995 law. . .

[David] Butters [a Seattle chiropractor] and others say chiropractors and alternative practitioners are losing patients because insurance companies won't cover their services at the same level they do those of medical doctors.

Senn's interpretation of the 1995 law is a boon to alternative practitioners - and the only fair interpretation, Butters said - because it requires equal treatment with physicians [MDs]. Insurance carriers challenged that in court. A judge sent the dispute back to Senn, saying the companies had not gone through the administrative appeals process, which has now begun.

"There is absolutely no doubt that alternative-care providers stand to do quite well if the commissioner's interpretation of that statute is upheld," said Tim Parker, a Seattle attorney who represented the insurance carriers in their case against Senn.

The day after the election, the Seattle Times reported in a feature story:

Deborah Senn's tenure as state insurance commissioner has been anything but smooth, but voters gave her a surprisingly easy ride to re-election.

Democrat Senn, who turned a sleepy office into a high-profile battleground, handily beat Republican Anthony Lowe, a deputy King County prosecutor.

The insurance industry anxiously wanted Senn out of office. But the more controversy swirling around Senn, the better she looked to voters.

"A lot of people said to me, `You're doing things, and that's why you're under attack,' " Senn said last night. "I've spent years putting consumers first, and people told me they heard that."

For more information, please see:

Seattle Times


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