Budget Testimony — Director Judith L. French, Ohio Department of Insurance (February 19, 2025)

Summary

Budget testimony of Director Judith L. French of the Ohio Department of Insurance to the Ohio House Development Committee on Wednesday, February 19, 2025, addressed to Chairman Hoops, Vice Chair Lorenz and Ranking Member Abdullahi. The testimony covers the department's budget request for Fiscal Years 2026 and 2027, which it calls virtually flat-funded compared to the last biennium. It requests $51,172,453 for Fiscal Year 2026 and $52,750,313 for Fiscal Year 2027. It says a licensing fee cut lowered the appointment fee from $15 to $10, saving the industry $15.8 million in the last fiscal year.

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50 West Town Street
Third Floor – Suite 300
Columbus, OH 43215-4186
Mike DeWine, Governor | Judith L. French, Director 614-644-2658
insurance.ohio.gov

Director Judith L. French Budget Testimony

House Development Committee

Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Chairman Hoops, Vice Chair Lorenz, and Ranking Member Abdullahi, and

members of the Ohio House Development Committee, thank you for the

opportunity to join you today to discuss the Ohio Department of Insurance’s

(department) budget request for Fiscal Years (FY) 2026 and 2027. I am pleased to

present a budget that is fiscally sound and virtually flat-funded compared to the last

biennium.

DEPARTMENT OVERVIEW

The department regulates all aspects of Ohio’s powerhouse insurance industry.

Ohio’s insurance market is the fifth largest in the United States and the 16th-largest

in the world. Five Ohio-based insurers are on the 2024 Fortune 500 list, second

only to the state of New York.

Accredited by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC)
Consumer Services: 800-686-1526 Fraud & Enforcement: 800-686-1527 Medicare/OSHIIP: 800-686-1578
TDD Line: 614-644-3745 (Printed in house)
1,730 companies hold licenses to do business in Ohio, and more than 250

companies call Ohio home. These insurers write more than $145 billion in

insurance premiums annually and employ more than 132,000 Ohioans.

Ohio has traditionally been one of the most affordable states for homeowners and

auto insurance. Even with the recent nationwide rate hikes, Ohioans enjoy

relatively low premiums. According to 2021 data from the National Association of

Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Ohioans paid an average of $776 for auto

insurance and $920 for homeowners insurance. These rates are significantly lower

than the national averages of $1,062 and $1,411, respectively. As a result, Ohio

remains among the top 10 states with the lowest insurance premiums nationwide.

The department also licenses and monitors the conduct of more than 341,000

insurance agents and 23,000 insurance agencies that do business with Ohioans.

We are not a general revenue agency. Instead, licensing fees paid by agents and

agencies primarily fund the department with some additional revenue coming from

company examinations.
The department is one of the largest consumer protection agencies in the state, and

we take that responsibility seriously. The Ohio Senior Health Insurance

Information Program (OSHIIP), which is nationally recognized for its work

providing free and unbiased information to Ohio’s Medicare population, helped

Ohioans save $54 million in 2024.

We’re also very proud that Christine Reeg, OSHIIP’s Program Director, was

awarded “SHIP Director of the Year” by the U.S. Department of Health and

Human Services, and one of OSHIIP’s local volunteers was awarded “SHIP

Volunteer of the Year”.

Providing even more savings to Ohioans, the department’s Consumer Services

Division (CSD) more than doubled the dollars it saved or recovered for consumers

compared to five years ago and has cut its complaint processing time by a third in

that time.

DEPARTMENT PRIORITIES

Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Initiatives
Governor DeWine has always been very clear that improving access to mental

health and substance use disorder care is a key priority for all state agencies.

I’m proud to say that the department has completely transformed its efforts around

access to mental health and substance use disorder in recent years.

The Mental Health Insurance Assistance (MHIA) office is fully functional with a

full-time program director that continues our commitment to a “no wrong door”

approach for Ohioans who need insurance-related help. Any Ohioans can call

1-855-GETMHIA and get the information they need to access their mental health

benefits.

The department has expanded its commitment to mental health by forming an

informal working group. The group includes representatives from other state

agencies, provider groups, health plans, consumer advocacy groups, and the

business community. The working group’s focus is on improving communication

and identifying opportunities to improve mental health insurance, ensuring that

individuals have access to necessary care.
One of the items in the department’s budget language is the direct result of an issue

identified in the working group, provider payment fee disclosures. Health

insurance companies often rely on third party payment platforms that require

payment processing fees. In many cases the health care provider is not offered an

option to be reimbursed through a method that doesn’t require a fee. ODI's

language would, at minimum, require disclosures and present options to the health

provider for payment options.

Giving Money Back to Ohioans

Throughout the DeWine administration, the legislature has worked with the

governor to repeatedly lower taxes, cut government red tape, and implement pro-

jobs policies. In that spirit, during the last budget cycle, the department proposed

cutting the agent licensing fees in Ohio to put more money back into the state’s

economy.

Thanks to your support and with the approval of the Joint Committee on Agency

Rule Review (JCARR), the department cut licensing fees by a third for the 2nd time

in nearly a decade. This cut lowered the appointment fee from $15 to $10, saving

the industry $15.8 million in the last fiscal year.
Moving forward, the department will continue to work internally and with industry

to identify other opportunities for savings and efficiencies.

Growing Ohio’s Insurance Industry and Workforce

One thing I hear over and over as I travel around the state visiting agencies and

companies is the growing workforce challenges and the interest in developing a

robust talent pipeline for the state’s insurance industry.

Recognizing this need has led to the department reaching out to other state

agencies and forming partnerships with industry, higher educational institutions,

and stakeholder groups to address this new challenge.

This collaborative approach has led to some innovative ideas that we believe will

help find the 108,000 new insurance employees we will need in Ohio by 2031. For

example, through a partnership with the Ohio Insurance Institute (OII), the

department is participating in insurance-career centered events at the ten risk

management and insurance programs located in Ohio’s colleges and universities.

And have partnered with the Ohio Independent Insurance Agents to help train their

interns.
There is so much work to do in the workforce space. We see it in every corner of

our economy. Therefore, one of the department’s top priorities for the upcoming

biennium will be to build on this momentum and continue to strengthen Ohio’s

insurance ecosystem.

BUDGET REQUEST

The department is committed to the work I have outlined today as well as all the

charges the agency must carry out.

To meet the needs of a growing industry in Ohio and to protect Ohio consumers,

the department is requesting $51,172,453 for Fiscal Year 2026 (a 3.2 percent

increase over Fiscal Year 2025) and $52,750,313 for Fiscal Year 2027 (a 3.1

percent increase over Fiscal Year 2026).

Chairman Hoops and members of the House Development Committee, thank you

for the opportunity to present the department’s budget request. I would be happy

to answer any questions.

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