OIC Answers on Insurance

Latest Episodes:

On Campus: Sine Die and a session recap with OIC policy staff Mar 13, 2026

Show notes

The 2026 Legislative session wrapped up on March 12 after a historic, more than 24-hour House debate on the millionaire’s tax. The final episode of the OIC Answers podcast’s On Campus miniseries looks back at the session — the bills that passed, the bills that didn’t, and a few that could be heard from again next year. Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer welcomes on special guests Delika Steele and Richelle Geiger from the OIC’s Policy & Legislative Affairs staff to chat about what changes during session and which bills they worked on.

On Campus: Sen. Victoria Hunt and the assignment of benefits bill Mar 09, 2026

Show notes

On this episode of the OIC Answers podcast’s On Campus miniseries, Washington state Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer welcomes on Senator Victoria Hunt to discuss Senate Bill 6178. The bill, requested Commissioner Kuderer and sponsored by Senator Hunt, increases protections for insurance consumers by banning post-loss assignment of benefits agreements (AOB). It passed the Senate unanimously but was not brought to the floor for a vote in the House.

An AOB allows a third party, like a contractor, to receive insurance payments directly from the consumer’s insurance company but also assume the rights of the policyholder — like negotiating with the insurance company.

These agreements are presented as a convenience for policyholders, but the practice has been abused in other states after natural disasters. When a consumer signs the agreement, their right to negotiate with the insurance company shifts to the repair professional and they lose control over their claim. This can lead to delays in the repair work as these disagreements are resolved, as well as inflated claim costs, unnecessary litigation, and higher premiums.

On Campus: Sen. Claire Wilson on insurance for child housing service providers Mar 02, 2026

Show notes

The OIC Answers podcast’s On Campus miniseries continues with guest Sen. Claire Wilson, who represents the 30th District.

Sen. Wilson, a longtime educator, sits down with Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer to discuss a report the OIC sent to the Legislature in December on the availability of insurance coverage for child-placing agencies and family homes.

The two cover why the issues exist, what happens if they’re not addressed, and what policy options exist to make coverage more available.

On Campus: Wildfire mitigation grant program with Sen. Marcus Riccelli Feb 23, 2026

Show notes

Home insurance nonrenewals due to wildfire risk has been a growing issue in certain pockets of Washington state. One potential solution, which came out of the Wildfire Mitigation and Resiliency Standards Work Group, was to create a voluntary grant program to help people retrofit their homes to better withstand wildfire.

Senate Bill 6079, which has moved to the House of Representatives for consideration, puts that idea into motion with the Strengthen Washington Homes program. Based on standards from the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS), this pilot program would help the people who need it most make their homes more fire-resistant and maintain their insurance coverage.

Sen. Marcus Riccelli (D – Spokane) is one of the bill’s sponsors. On this episode of the On Campus miniseries, he discusses what he’s heard from his constituents, how the bill garnered bipartisan support and the importance of protecting against wildfire.

On Campus: Gov. Bob Ferguson and the preventive services bill (HB 2242) Feb 18, 2026

Show notes

Since 2010, people in Washington have enjoyed access to no-cost preventive health services. That’s no cost sharing, no copays and no deductibles on services like well-child visits, cancer screenings, maternal health care, and immunizations.

However, recent actions at the federal level have put that cost-free status at risk. Immunizations qualify for that no-cost tag based on recommendations from the federal Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. And recently they’ve crossed a few vaccines off the recommendation list, which is troubling to some medical professionals.

To keep those federal actions from impacting healthcare in Washington, Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer and Governor Bob Ferguson teamed up to sponsor House Bill 2242, which preserves access to preventive services. (The bill moved out of the House and to the Senate on Feb. 11 by a 57-39 vote.)

On this episode of the OIC Answers podcast’s On Campus miniseries, Ferguson and Kuderer chat about the bill, the West Coast Health Alliance, and the importance of preventive healthcare.

What we’ve learned since the Nisqually earthquake Feb 12, 2026

Show notes

The Nisqually earthquake Western Washington on Feb. 28, 2001.

As we look back on the event 25 years later, the OIC Answers podcast welcomes on by Anne-marie Marshall-Dody, the Washington Emergency Management Division’s Assistant Director for Disaster Resilience, and Josh Martinsen, the Property & Casualty Unit Supervisor from our Consumer Protection division, to talk about what we’ve learned since then and how we can prepare our homes — from a construction standpoint and a physical standpoint — for the next significant earthquake.

On Campus with Rep. Roger Goodman on HB 2394 Feb 03, 2026

Show notes

On this episode of OIC Answers On Campus miniseries, Rep. Roger Goodman (D-45th District) joins Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer to discuss House Bill 2394, which was request legislation by the OIC.

Insurance fraud has gotten a little more complex in the last two decades. House Bill 2394 gives the Office of the Insurance Commissioner’s Criminal Investigations Unit a few more tools to catch those fraudsters.

The Protecting consumers by modernizing Washington’s insurance fraud laws bill expands the definition of insurance fraud and expands the definition of “victims of insurance fraud” to include insurance consumers and insurance beneficiaries and make them eligible for criminal restitution. It authorizes those criminal investigators to investigate other crimes that impact the insurance industry, or insurance consumers or beneficiaries.

It also includes a rare instance of adding a felony to state law, with “insurance fraud” becoming a Class B felony rather than a misdemeanor or gross misdemeanor.

On Campus: Sen. Shelly Short and two bills addressing wildfire threats Jan 26, 2026

Show notes

Wildfire, and the threats they pose to homes and their access to insurance, have been a significant topic in Washington over the past few years. Two pieces of legislation aim to address those threats: Senate Bill 6079 and SB 5928.

Senator Shelly Short (R-Spokane) is a sponsor on both bills, and she joins Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer on this episode of the OIC Answers podcast’s On Campus miniseries to talk about why she sponsored the bills, how the grant program would work, what she learned from the Wildfire Resiliency and Mitigation Standards Work Group, and what wildfire risk scores mean for your home’s insurability.

SB 6079 would create the Strengthen Washington Homes program, which is a voluntary grant program to help people retrofit their homes to better withstand wildfire. It’s based on standards from the Insurance Institute for Home and Business Safety and modelled partially on a similar program for wind damage in Alabama.

SB 5928 concerns wildfire risk score models and score disclosure. Insurance companies use these risk scores, typically from third-party companies, to evaluate a property, decide if they’ll cover it, and help establish premiums.

On Campus: North Dakota Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread on SB 5331 Jan 20, 2026

Show notes

If an insurance company takes your money, getting it back shouldn’t be a problem. That’s the basis behind Senate Bill 5331, which grants the Washington state Insurance Commissioner the authority to order companies that violate insurance laws to make the people they’ve harmed whole.

It’s an authority held by insurance regulators in 38 states —including North Dakota, where Insurance Commissioner Jon Godfread worked to get a bill similar to SB 5331 passed last April.

Godfread joins Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer to talk about why he supported the bill, the discussions around passing it, and how a family of farmers defrauded by an insurance company showed the North Dakota legislature the importance of granting restitution authority to regulators.

On Campus: Denny Heck and the importance of not getting personal Jan 14, 2026

Show notes

Denny Heck does not read his own Wikipedia page — at least not recently. The Lieutenant Governor, who founded TVW, served in Congress, occasionally sits in for the Governor and does not suffer foolish podcast hosts, kicks off OIC Answers’ 2026 Legislative Session mini-series by chatting about his role as President of the State Senate; the importance of civil disagreement, political compromise and the first amendment; why performing the one-man show Our Times meant so much to him; and the start to an interview that left a state legislator legitimately slack-jawed.

Washington state Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer will be hosting lawmakers and other guests from her office on the Capitol Campus during the 2026 session. Learn more about the OIC's legislative priorities.

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