Maine insurance regulator retires

Maine’s insurance superintendent Eric Cioppa is to retire after more than 30 years with the state. He will step down in April.

Cioppa has been superintendent for a decade and was previously deputy superintendent for 13 years. He joined the Bureau of Insurance in 1988 as a statistician. During his tenure, Cioppa has been heavily involved in helping set national priorities, developing model laws and regulations, and acting as a spokesperson for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), for which he served as president in 2019, president-elect in 2018, vice president in 2017 and secretary in 2016. Cioppa also chaired and served on several NAIC committees.

Regulatory colleagues at the NAIC twice appointed him to serve two-year terms as their non-voting member representative on the US Financial Stability Oversight in 2018 and 2020.

The administration is undertaking a national search to identify candidates for his replacement.

“Superintendent Cioppa has accomplished so much for Maine people during his tenure at the Bureau,” said Maine’s governor Mills. “From his work to overhaul the workers’ compensation system in the State in the early ’90s, to overseeing the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in Maine since 2010, to working with my administration on health insurance and consumer financial protections during the pandemic -- and all the legislative, regulatory and enforcement work in between -- superintendent Cioppa’s contributions to the health and welfare of Mainers have been invaluable.”

Department of Professional and Financial Services commissioner Anne Head said that Cioppa had been “an incredible asset”.

“He’s been tireless in his work to protect the rights of Mainers and to support business innovation and competition in Maines insurance industry,” she said.