Health care among issues aired at Wilmington forum for state insurance commissioner

State Sen. Ricardo Lara, D-Huntington Park, Long Beach, discussed his ideas for expanding the role of the state Insurance Commissioner, a position he’s seeking on the November ballot, at a town hall Tuesday, Oct. 16, in Wilmington.

Specifically, Lara talked about how technology will require the office to do more in the future. He also said he’d like to see the post have a bigger say in health insurance coverage.

Unable to participate in the forum due to scheduling conflicts was Lara’s opponent and the state’s former Insurance Commissioner, Steve Poizner, a former Republican who is running as an independent.

They were the top vote getters in the June primary with Poizoner getting 41 percent of the vote and Lara coming in second with 40.5 percent.

Poizner previously held the job from 2007-11.

The California Insurance Commissioner has been an elected executive office position in California since 1991. Before that, it was an appointment made by the governor.

The commissioner is in charge of the California Department of Insurance.

The election will bring a first to California. If Poizner wins, he’ll be the first independent to hold statewide office. If Lara wins, he’ll be the first openly gay candidate to serve.

Lara said voters he’s spoken to list their top concerns as the future of the Affordable Care Act and how the state can better react to the devastating fires that have hit California in recent years.

In an interview with the San Diego Union-Tribune, Poizner said his top three priorities are wildfires, health insurance and cyber security.

The forum, held at Banning’s Landing Community Center, was sponsored by CALmatters, a nonpartisan policy review organization, and co-sponsored by the Biz Fed Institute.

Lara, who will be termed out of his state Senate seat in 2020, introduced the Health Care for All Act in 2014 and has supported universal health care. Poizner opposes single-payer universal health care.

The measure, which has not moved forward due to there being no funding mechanism, would have expanded health care coverage for all Californians, regardless of immigration status.

While the office holds broad authority over policies regulating homes, businesses and cars, it does not wield much authority over health insurance.

When asked by moderator Dan Morain, senior editor for CALmatters, if he supported the office having more say in that area, Lara responded “Absolutely.”

In regard to the devastating fires in which many people lost their homes, Lara said reform is needed so they also don’t get dropped from their insurance policies.

There needs to be specific regional data supplied to the Sacramento office, he said, to track insurance responses in those disasters.

Issues that are on the horizon include how to determine liability for accidents with unmanned automated cars.

“The Jetsons are right around the corner,” he said of the 1960s futuristic cartoon.

The state’s legalization of marijuana is another area that must be addressed, he said, especially in light of the cash those businesses must keep due to banking restrictions operating under federal laws that still list the drug as an illegal substance.

“You have homes that are full of cash,” he said. How to “bank” the industry and legitimize it financially will be among upcoming issues, he said.

Poizner, a Silicon Valley billionaire, became wealthy after he established and sold high-tech companies. He ran unsuccessfully for the Republican nomination for governor in 2010.

This month, Poizner aired the first TV spots in the race.