Katharine L. Wade
Commissioner
Connecticut Insurance Department
Katharine L. Wade was appointed as Connecticut’s Insurance Commissioner by Governor Dannel P. Malloy on March 20, 2015. Commissioner Wade has more than 20 years' experience in the fields of regulatory compliance and consumer outreach.
She has initiated and is overseeing a number of new Department initiatives aimed at enhancing consumer education, regulatory efficiency and customer service. The Commissioner created a free consumer letter, “Insurance Matters,” which features important topical issues explained in an easy-to-understand format. It is broadly distributed and available on the Department Web site.
After the Commissioner arrived, the Department began a series of LEAN initiatives to improve efficiency. The enhancements are intended to implement uniformity in product filings and speed-to-market of approved insurance products. The Department Licensing Unit is also instituting LEAN steps to better serve the nearly 200,000 brokers, agents and bail bondsmen that are licensed through the Department. The largest division – the Financial Regulations unit – is upgrading its technology to eliminate inefficient paper processes.
Under Commissioner Wade’s leadership, the Department continues to be active in international and national regulatory discussions to ensure for a competitive industry and a robust market for consumers. The Department is the lead regulator on eight (8) supervisory colleges – a regulatory collaboration among state and international insurance regulators to assess the financial health and risks of our Connecticut-based companies. The Department also is a participating regulator in seven (7) supervisory colleges for companies that have divisions in Connecticut.
Commissioner Wade works closely with other state insurance departments, through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) and with the Federal Reserve and Federal Insurance Office (FIO) to ensure that regulatory standards – particularly new capital standards – being developed in the U.S. and internationally will not harm Connecticut-based companies and consumers.
The Commissioner is a member of the Governor’s Climate Change Council, the State Agencies Fostering Resiliency Council (SAFR), the state Alcohol and Drug Policy Council and the board of directors of Access Health CT, the state-sponsored health insurance exchange. She is the Chair of the NAIC Health Insurance and Managed Care (B) Committee, is a member of NAIC Executive Committee and serves on several other NAIC groups. Commissioner Wade is a member of the U.S. Treasury’s Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance, which provides advice and recommendations directly to the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) on a periodic basis. She also serves on the Financial Stability and Technical Committee of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).
While at Cigna (1992-2013), she led a 130-member national team responsible for federal and state governmental affairs, public policy and U.S. compliance for Cigna’s health, group life and disability businesses in her capacity as Vice President of Public Policy, Government Affairs and U.S. Compliance. During the implementation of the federal Affordable Care Act, Commissioner Wade oversaw Cigna’s compliance with all ACA’s laws and regulations. She also oversaw the global health insurer’s comprehensive international regulatory review during supervisory colleges and developed the company’s public policy structure to deal with its global business units.
She earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in History from Simmons College in Boston. Commissioner Wade resides in Simsbury with her husband, Mike, and three children.