Until September, the department, which promises to protect insurance customers, publicly released the names of insurance companies and agents who violated state rules. The September announcement, for example, noted that Great American Assurance Co. was fined $195,000 for failure to file policy forms or endorsements containing property and casualty benefits and that the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association failed to process claims in a timely manner or pay claims for storm damage that is a covered loss. Information on violators was also available in the department’s newsletter, TDInSight.

No longer.

Less than two months after Gov. Rick Perry appointed Eleanor Kitzman state insurance commissioner, the department abandoned its longtime practice of naming names. The information is now available, but with some heavy strings attached. You have to write and ask for it.

For example, the most recent announcement, on April 25, says seven insurance agents had their licenses revoked and paid fines and restitution totaling $270,950. Want the names? Continue reading: “Copies of Commissioner’s Orders may be obtained by contacting TDI’s Public Information Office.”

That’s an extra step that most consumers searching for the latest news on violators probably won’t take. And it protects the names of offenders since they will no longer show up in Internet search results.

I asked the department how many people had requested the list, and the answer was four.

The Watchdog asked the department for an interview with Kitzman. Spokesman John Greeley’s response? “The commissioner is not available for an interview.”

Go figure. Online you can find out about all kinds of licensed professionals who get in trouble with the state. No problem finding out the names of nurses who get their licenses revoked or suspended. Actions by the Texas State Securities Board are a click away. The Texas Medical Board issues news releases naming disciplined docs.

The State Bar eventually reports the names of lawyers who run afoul of ethics rules. The Board of Architectural Examiners reports on architects who transgress, and the Department of Licensing and Regulation reports on auctioneers, barbers, electricians and 26 other occupations.

Alex Winslow, whose group Texas Watch monitors the Insurance Department, said Kitzman’s “job is to police the insurance industry and look out for the interests of policyholders. And if she’s sweeping these disciplinary actions under the rug, she’s doing the exact opposite. She’s covering the backsides of unscrupulous agents and insurance companies.”

Why is this information important?

“From a consumer’s point of view,” Winslow said, “that information must be public and must be available so that insurance customers know what they’re dealing with, whether it’s an unscrupulous agent or a company with a pattern of unfair claims practices. This is key information that insurance customers need when they’re making a decision about what agent and what insurance company to use, and how they’re going to spend their hard-earned money.”

I sent the Insurance Department questions but received only this statement: “TDI strictly enforces the Texas Insurance Code and takes prompt action when entities (companies or agents) violate the law. While not every regulatory action is equally newsworthy, TDI will continue to highlight enforcement actions of greater or broader significance, especially instances of fraud, to serve as a deterrent.”

Kitzman, originally from Texas, made a name for herself as South Carolina’s insurance commissioner. She’s also a close friend of South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. Kitzman ran as a Republican for South Carolina lieutenant governor in 2010. She collected more than half her donations from the insurance industry, according to reports. She lost, but when she learned about the Texas opening, she applied and was selected by Perry.

Kitzman, in office now for nine months, has been accused by critics of politicizing her regulatory office. A month after taking charge, she served as a star attraction at a September Republican fundraiser that attracted insurance bigwigs she’s supposed to regulate. The event was for her mentor, Haley. But it also served as Kitzman’s coming-out party, held at the Las Colinas corporate offices of Ethos Group, an insurance and consulting company. The Texas Observer released a copy of the invitation that said, “Also in attendance will be the new Texas Commissioner, Eleanor Kitzman.” Suggested ticket price to meet Haley and the commissioner: $500.

Her ties to the industry may call into question the reasons the department decided to protect the names of the disciplined.

This decision can be changed. E-mail your thoughts about the policy change to PIO@tdi.state.tx.us. Or write to TDI Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman, P.O. Box 149104, Austin, TX 78714-9104. In the meantime, I’ve posted on the latest enforcement report, with the names of disciplined agents and companies, on Watchdog Bytes, a Star-Telegram.com blog that keeps an eye on governments and businesses. Find it at blogs.star-telegram.com/investigations.

1. make recommendations before next session of legislature that coastal and/or other legislators could sponsor and give the Texas Department of Insurance the tools it needs to prevent and/or punish this type of abusive policyholder activity;
2. place a data call on State Farm to determine how many of the policyholders who have their home, life and auto through State Farm, who will now be forced to at least obtain their homeowners elsewhere, the potential impact this could have upon life insurance policies, and/or ability to obtain new multi-line discounts from other carriers.
3. track the claims data for all 11,278 of these policies to determine which ones of them end up in TWIA or the FAIR Plan and what their subsequent loss histories are to determine if any of those losses were caused by State Farm’s claims practices before dumping these policyholders on TWIA and the FAIR Plan.

In addition to being in contact with the Commissioner, he has also been in contact with the other legislators who have constituents that are impacted by this seemingly arbitrary redrawing of the boundaries in which they will write coverage.

“I met with State Farm’s corporate personnel earlier this month to discuss this issue. Their position seemed to be that this is a very small percentage of policies that they are no longer going to offer. While this may be accurate on a global/corporate level, on a local level it great impacts our communities and constituents, both policy holders and agents. Of the 2,851 policies being cancelled/non renewed in Galveston County, they are concentrated in the Texas City, Dickson and La Marque areas but also impact Hitchcock and Santa Fe.” Rep. Eiland said.

“The thing that is really sad is that people are not being dropped because of anything that the policy holder did or their claims history. They are just going off a computer model that spit out a new line in the sand. Constituents that I have spoken with are very distressed over this issue and are now faced with decisions about their other lines of insurance that they have with State Farm. They are cancelling longtime loyal customers.

One lady I visited with was an 88 year old widow who had been with State Farm for over 60 years, and now they tell her they don’t want her anymore? Another gentleman was the third policy his agent ever sold! While State Farm may have great commercials with soft music, this shows a very tough corporate reality that is not very loyal to their Texas City policyholders.”

“I have spoken to several agents that do not know how they can maintain their agency when they are no longer allowed to write up to 60 percent of their current business. Their retirement is also being impacted as their retirement is related to policy sales and premium collections. I bet we see some good agents retire because of State Farm’s action.

Today, he also hand delivered a copy of the letter to Chairman John Smithee (R-Amarillo), Chairman of the House Committee on Insurance and to Speaker Joe Straus. “I will continue to work with my coastal colleagues, Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton), Rep. Joe Deshotel (D-Beaumont), Rep. Mike Hamilton (R-Mauriceville) and Rep. Allan Ritter (R-Nederland), on this issue, but I also want to make sure that Leadership is aware of this new policy and the negative impact it is having in specific communities along the Coast. “

Holly Andrews said the Planned Parenthood clinic in her hometown of Corsicana is her only option for free checkups. The 44-year-old mother of two said breast cancer runs in her family.

“If I did not have the women’s healthcare program, I would not have my yearly mammogram,” she said.

“Because you don’t have insurance?” asked Werner.

“I don’t have insurance.”

She’s worried about a recent Texas decision to exclude Planned Parenthood from that federal program, which provides free preventive services like breast and cervical cancer screenings to low-income women

“What should we do? Where do we go?” asked Andrews.

Around the state, other women are protesting the state’s decision. Planned Parenthood serves 50,000 women in the program. The federal government said denying money to the organization — a qualified provider under Medicaid rules — is illegal. So it has pulled $35 million in federal funding.

Governor Rick Perry defends the state’s decision. “We don’t want Planned Parenthood and their affiliates, who are in the abortion business, engaged in this process,” he said. “This is pretty straight up.”

“But under federal law the money’s not allowed to go to abortions under this program, at all,” Werner pointed out.

“Well, we would rather be very sure of it,” said Perry.

Governor Perry said the state will find money to replace the lost federal dollars. But Jose Camacho, who heads the Texas Association of Community Health Clinics, wonders where that money will come from.

“If Planned Parenthood is cut out of this picture, can your centers pick up the slack?” Werner asked.

“We can pick up some of it, but there’s no possible way that we can expand that quickly to take that many additional patients,” said Camacho.

“You believe other providers will be able to pick up the slack?” Werner asked Perry.

“Absolutely,” he said.

“What if they can’t?”

“They can.”

“But what if they can’t?” asked Werner.

“I’m not in the game of ‘what-ifs,’” said Perry.

For patients like Holly Andrews, ‘What if?’ also means ‘What now?’: She doesn’t know of any other clinic in her town where she can get medical services for free.

Since the standoff between Texas and the federal government erupted over the state’s decision to write clinics “affiliated” with abortion providers out of the Women’s Health Program, abortion opponents have argued that there are thousands of more comprehensive health care providers available to take Planned Parenthood’s place. By law, none of the clinics enrolled in the five-year-old program were performing abortions.

But Fran Hagerty, the head of the Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas — which represents non-Planned Parenthood providers in Texas, including clinics, hospitals and medical schools — said she seriously doubts Gov. Rick Perry will be able to keep the pledge he made last week to maintain the roughly $30 million-per-year program without federal help. She said the “monstrous” family-planning funding cuts of the last legislative session, made before the Women’s Health Program was jeopardized, have eroded trust and have forced clinics to shut their doors.

“The funds made available to family planning providers through the Women’s Health Program is what is keeping most of them going at this point,” she said in a statement. “No one trusts Gov. Perry to find state money to fund them at the same level as the Medicaid program.”

The Obama administration has said Texas’ plan to exclude Planned Parenthood from the program violates a federal law that lets Medicaid patients choose their own providers, an argument Perry’s staff disputes. Anticipating that the federal government would turn off the funding tap, Perry announced last week that he would keep the family planning program, which serves more than 100,000 low-income Texas women, in place. But it remains unclear where the state money will come from in a tough budget year.

Perry spokeswoman Catherine Frazier said the governor has tasked the state’s health commissioner with finding the money “from existing state funds” — and that it will be done. “The governor wouldn’t have called on him to do so if the money was not there,” she said.

Texas Health and Human Services Commission spokeswoman Stephanie Goodman said the agency will know more about the exact costs involved after the federal government gives formal word that the funding is ending. On Friday in Houston, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the federal government would not renew the program if the state refused to include Planned Parenthood, the provider of choice for more than 40 percent of the program’s clients in Texas. (See the video here.) She has not sent official word to Perry’s office.

Goodman said that HHSC is creating guidelines for providers for the new state-run program, and that the agency won’t officially disenroll those who don’t qualify — like Planned Parenthood clinics, for example — until May 1. If the agency can’t identify full funding for the new program immediately, she said, health officials could come back to the Legislature in January to seek supplemental dollars.

“Our goal is make the transition as seamless as possible. We’re still looking at the funding options, but the most likely scenario involves changing the source of the funding at the state level without changing how the program works for the clients or providers,” Goodman wrote in an email. “We’re still working through the details, but this approach would be virtually invisible to the clients and providers.”

One of those providers is Lone Star Circle of Care, a federally qualified health center in Central Texas. Spokeswoman Rebekah Haynes said that because Lone Star is not affiliated with an abortion provider, it plans to reapply by April 30 to be part of the new Women’s Health Program, regardless of who runs it or pays for it.

Last year, Haynes said Lone Star treated 2,264 Women’s Health Program clients and was reimbursed about $700,000. But it is reeling from last legislative session’s massive cuts to family planning. Haynes said she anticipates more Women’s Health Program patients will come to Lone Star for birth control and cancer screenings without Planned Parenthood clinics available, but she is not sure how they will pay for them.

“If the funding is made available to us either through [the Women's Health Program] or another source, [Lone Star] anticipates that we could have the capacity to provide care to women who are unable to find access to these services elsewhere in Central Texas” she said. “But without the necessary funding, our capacity would be considerably more limited.”

As the state prepares to end its funding for Planned Parenthood, the organization is on a media blitz. Its supporters rolled into Austin on Tuesday night to wrap up a statewide bus tour, with supporters vowing to pressure lawmakers to restore funding to Planned Parenthood.

“We’ll continue to make sure our clients can count on Planned Parenthood health centers for breast and cervical cancer screenings, HIV tests, birth control and other essential health screenings as permissible,” said Sarah Wheat, the interim co-CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Texas Capital Region. “In the meantime, Texans will continue to urge Gov. Perry to stop playing politics with women’s health and support the continuation of the Medicaid Women’s Health Program.”

Frazier said the only thing Planned Parenthood is accomplishing with its bus tour is “throwing Texas women under it with their scare tactics.”

“Gov. Perry has committed to continuing these services even if the Obama administration won’t,” she said.

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After rising steadily for the past few years, homeowners insurance premiums are expected to jump an additional 5% this year to $1,004, according to the Insurance Information Institute. That’s the biggest yearly increase since the market downturn and will mark the first time the national average premium is above $1,000.

Premiums will rise even more in some states. In Georgia, GuideOne Insurance will raise rates by 12% on average starting this month. Farmers Insurance is increasing rates in Texas by 10% on average. Last month, Allstate started raising rates by 15% in Pennsylvania. And Florida insurer Citizens Property Insurance and North Carolina Farm Bureau are raising rates on some condo and homeowners by 21% and 6%, respectively.

The higher premiums come at a challenging time for American homeowners, as millions are behind on their mortgage payments and many are “underwater.”

Insurers say the higher premiums are partly to cover their rising costs: Insured catastrophe losses in the U.S. totaled $35.9 billion in 2011, compared with a 2000-to-2010 average of $23.8 billion, according to the III. The companies are also paying more in premiums to so-called reinsurers, which provide insurers coverage for widespread catastrophic events, says Steven Weisbart, senior vice president and chief economist at the III.

Meanwhile, insurers’ returns on their investments — roughly 70% of their assets are in bonds — have been low, he says, and they’re looking for other ways to make up that lost revenue. “The only other place insurance companies can get money from is premiums,” he says.

Typically, when policyholders are informed of premium increases they shop around for better prices, but experts say that’s become harder to do. As insurers exit some markets altogether, homeowners are left with fewer companies to choose from. For instance, starting in May, State Farm will not renew roughly 11,000 homeowner policies in five coastal counties in Texas. The company says it’s trying to lessen its exposure to future losses.

To lower premiums, some homeowners increase their deductible, which means they’ll have to pay more out-of-pocket before their insurance kicks in after a disaster. But this strategy might not be as helpful this time around, because some insurers are dropping other types of coverage that were previously part of basic homeowners insurance policies. When coupled with a high deductible, a homeowner’s expenses could soar.

Allstate, for instance, recently introduced a new homeowner’s policy in Kansas and Oklahoma that doesn’t pay out the full cost of replacing all roofs that incur windstorm or hail damage. Kevin Smith, a company spokesman, says Allstate will determine which roofs qualify based in part on their age and condition. If Allstate declines to pay the full cost, it will pay the current value of that roof and the homeowner will be on the hook for the difference.

The company says the homeowner’s other option is to purchase so-called replacement cost coverage for roof losses in addition to the basic policy.

Even if homeowners find a lower premium, it might not stay low for long. Experts say many insurers filed requests with states to raise rates this year. (When states approve higher rates, that leads to higher premiums for policyholders.) For instance, last month, Pennsylvania received requests from Erie Insurance and Travelers to increase premiums by roughly 9% by June and July, respectively, according to the state’s insurance department. (The companies didn’t respond to requests for comment.)

In Georgia, most of the major companies filed requests to raise rates by 18% to 22%, says Steve Manders, director of insurance product review at the state’s department of insurance. The states say they don’t usually approve requests for increases of the exact amount insurers ask for.

Then the Lt. Gov. lists the following specifics:

• Compare Texas’ homeowners insurance premiums with those of other states and identify the factors underlying Texas’ premium levels and recommend steps that the Legislature may take to reduce homeowners’ rates, if appropriate;
• Study strategies that increase awareness of state insurance resources to help consumers compare rates and coverage among various insurance providers;
• Study the relationship between insurance premiums and construction costs, especially as associated with recovery from natural disasters, to ensure that consumers are treated fairly;
• Review the use by insurers, in rating and underwriting decisions, of customer inquiries regarding the general terms or conditions of, or coverage offered under, an insurance policy.

I have no problem with any of these subsets, but I think if you asked the guy on the street what is wrong with insurance in Texas, they’ll add two things — high rates and the inability of any insurance commissioner to go toe-to-toe with insurers and win.

Insurance companies will never be on most consumers’ Christmas card list — although I’m on my company’s birthday and Christmas card list, which make me think maybe I’m TOO good of a customer if they have this kind of love for me. But I digress.

At some point, the state is going to have another discussion about regulation, particularly the powers of the post of insurance commissioner. In fact some of the things on the charges list should be things the insurance department should already know.

It strikes me the real underlying question is whether the position of insurance commissioner has the necessary muscle.

Unlike the issues on the interim charges list, the discussion of how powerful the regulator should be wouldn’t be discussion — it will be a full-out, no-holds barred shouting match. Nonetheless it may be a shouting match worth having.

Dale Farris got busy finding another insurer before the number of companies offering general liability and fire coverage dwindled further.

State Farm said it will not renew regular homeowner policies – aside from windstorm coverage – affecting 11,000 customers in parts of Orange, Jefferson, Chambers, Galveston and Brazoria counties after May 1.

“I’m not surprised at the non-renewal,” Farris said in front of the Marion Street home where he has lived for more than 20 years.

State Farm is the largest

homeowner insurer in Texas. Company spokesman Kevin Davis said State Farm’s decision doesn’t affect properties in counties south of Brazoria and doesn’t affect every client even in the counties where the 11,000 are being cut.

“We must strike a balance between our exposure and our ability to pay claims,” Davis said.

Alex Winslow, executive director of the consumer advocacy group Texas Watch, which specializes in insurance issues, said State Farm is not repaying longtime customer loyalty with its action.

“The company expects loyalty, but gives none in return,” he said.

Davis said State Farm homeowner policy customers still can have their motor vehicles insured through the company. Farris said it is unlikely customers would remain because other insurers usually offer discounts for policies that bundle home and car coverage.

Farris’ little neighborhood lies between the Huntsman Port Neches chemical plant and a school in the Port Neches-Groves school district.

The Gulf of Mexico is a 45-minute drive from his home and the Neches River is about three miles to the east, he said.

“At first, the decision was not to write new policies,” Farris said, referring to many insurers offering policies in coastal areas. “That had an impact on folks trying to close on homes.”

He was referring to the completion of the homebuying process, which includes showing the mortgage provider and lender there is adequate insurance on the property in case of catastrophe like a hurricane.

Farris, obviously, was not in that group.

However, beginning May 1, State Farm will not renew policies for the 11,000 it is cutting off. That means Farris, in April 2013, would not have been able to renew his.

So, he jumped ship a year early, beating the customers who will have to go elsewhere after May 1 by a few months.

His decision was rooted in his fear that other companies would begin to pull out as well or not write a policy for a new customer, which he was going to be.

He found a willing insurer in Farm Bureau. Although Farm Bureau does provide windstorm coverage, it would not do so for Farris’ home because it was built in 1956, too early to have incorporated some of the stronger hurricane-resistant building codes.

Farris said his house suffered only “minor damage” in Hurricanes Rita and Ike. He credits the levee protecting Port Arthur with keeping his home from flooding during Ike in 2008.

After Hurricane Rita in 2005, many insurers announced they were no longer providing windstorm insurance as part of their overall coverage. Then, some insurers announced they were no longer providing policies in areas they considered too close to the Gulf.

Farris noted that State Farm’s decision to withdraw coverage would affect the company’s agent the most.

“We talked to our agent,” Farris said. “He’s a good agent. This wasn’t the agent’s decision. The agent is trying to represent the company and the company looks to him for that. Relationships that used to be built – person to person – are not important any more.”

A Texas Department of Insurance spokesman said State Farm has notified the agency of its intent to non-renew a portion of its coastal Texas business over the next 12 months.

“TDI is working with State Farm to ensure that its actions are not in violation of state law,” said department spokesman Jerry Hagins in an email.

However, Hagins did not explain what possible violations of law could occur.

Texas Watch filed the unusual request with the Texas Department of Insurance, asking for all residential and automobile insurance policy forms and endorsements now in use. An endorsement is used by an insurer to add or subtract specific coverage in the original policy.

“Research conducted by the Texas Department of Insurance demonstrates that deregulation of policy forms in the state has led to significantly less coverage for most homeowners, who are being forced to pay good money for what are aptly described as ‘junk policies,’” said Alex Winslow, executive director of Texas Watch, referring to a department report from early 2011.

Winslow said the report indicates that when comparing current homeowner policies with the uniform, comprehensive policies used in Texas in the early 2000s, about 87 percent have less coverage for continuous leakage from plumbing or air conditioning.

Nearly 72 percent provide less coverage for backup of sewers and drains, and 67 percent give less coverage for damage to slabs and foundations. Some policies also offer less coverage today for damage caused by theft, freezing pipes, falling trees, mold and sudden discharge from AC systems.

“The bottom line is that consumers are hard-pressed to find a policy that offers the same level of protection they had 10 years ago” even though premiums have gone up, Winslow said.

Industry representatives disputed the criticism, saying that insurance consumers in Texas know upfront what their policies cover and don’t cover — and most are satisfied.

“To suggest that insurers offer policies which lack needed coverage is absurd,” said Jerry Johns, president of Southwestern Insurance Information Service. “Insurance companies are in business to sell their insurance and attract new customers, and you don’t do that by offering a substandard product.”

He added: “As usual, Texas Watch is barking up the wrong tree.”

Mark Hanna of the Insurance Council of Texas said policies sold in Texas offer a variety of choices that have “all kinds of coverages, deductibles and rates” as well as a multitude of different companies to choose from.

“It’s unfortunate that Texas Watch, who promotes themselves as being pro-consumer, would demand so much time and energy from the regulator rather than working to educate and assist consumers on how to make smart economic decisions about their insurance purchases,” he said.

The criticism of “junk” policies has gotten the interest of some lawmakers, including at a recent meeting of the Senate Business and Commerce Committee.

“Many consumers don’t know what they’re getting,” said Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio.

“All they know is they’re getting a raw deal.”

Texas Watch said one answer is to standardize policies using forms that provide comprehensive coverage for those who buy auto and homeowners insurance.

Farmers, whose various Texas units combine to make it the state’s third-largest insurer, received 207 complaints from Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2011, according to Austin-based Texas Watch, which obtained complaint data from state regulators.

That compares with 198 against State Farm, which has the largest market share in Texas, and 159 against Allstate, the second-largest home insurance company in the state.

Jerry Davies, a spokesman for Farmers, said it was difficult to comment without knowing how many of the complaints were found to be legitimate.

“Everyone we deal with is dealt with as fairly, efficiently and as quickly as we can to resolve their issues, and we work very diligently to resolve each and every claim,” Davies said.

The number of complaints is small compared with the thousands of claims the company handles each year.

However, Texas Watch executive director Alex Winslow said the data are still an important measure of how companies stack up against each other.

“Farmers stands out as a company with more complaints than anyone else, and that’s a very telling distinction,” he said.

The data do not include complaints about coverage or premium issues, but those dealing with payment delays, underpayments, denials and other matters pertaining to how claims are handled.

The numbers don’t break out how many of the complaints are justified. But Winslow said that isn’t relevant because the Texas Department of Insurance can dismiss complaints without investigating if it feels they fall outside its jurisdiction.

“We weren’t interested in what TDI thought of the complaints. We were interested in how many people were registering dissatisfaction with their carrier,” Winslow said.

Insurance Department spokesman Jerry Hagins said the “vast majority” of complaints received do fall within the department’s jurisdiction.

“Things don’t always work out for the consumer; but when we do find the company has erred and the consumer is right, we work robustly for the consumer,” he said, noting that regulators forced insurers to return $25 million to consumers from Sept. 1, 2010, to Aug. 31, 2011.

Consumers can file complaints by calling 800-252-3439 or visiting www.tdi.texas.gov.