Washington Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer ordered Thin Blue Line Benefits to stop selling insurance i
n Washington after investigators found the company had been operating without the required state license,.
The OIC began investigating the Texas-based company in July after receiving a complaint about an unprocessed he
alth-insurance claim. The agency then identified 41 additional complaints from retired state and local law enforcement officers.
Thin Blue Line claimed the plan was structured as a self-funded Emplo
yee Retirement Income Security Act program for members of the Nationa
l Fraternal Order of Police, but investigators said it did not meet ERISA requirements. The OIC said the company is not lice
sed to sell insurance in Washington and has also been ordered to end operations in Arizona and Ohio.
The OIC said affected Thin Blue Line members may be able to e
nroll in coverage through the Washington Health Benefit Exchange.
Back in 2008, Massachusetts went from having the insurance regulat
or set auto insurance rates to letting competition do it. That change led to a
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parade of large carriers into the market, including Geico, Allstate, and
Progressive. But not State Farm, which with an 18.7% market share nationwide is the larges
t auto insurer. It is also the largest home insurer in the country with an 18.2% share.
State Farm told The Boston Globe in late 2011 that it was still monitoring the situation three years after the state e
ased its regulations to let auto insurers compete on price. “State Farm will continue to assess the Massachusetts insur
ance market to determine if it would be in the best interests of our policyholders to start marke
ting business” in the state, a company spokesman said at the time. The spokesman said the company had to weigh a number of factors including rates, pricing
, existing competition, and the overall regulatory and statutory environment.