Political Buzz » Mike Kreidler

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler recovering after surgery

Jordan Schrader — Tue, 02 Apr 2013 17:29:00 +0000

State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler underwent what his office said was successful heart surgery Monday.

His office says Kreidler, 69, called today and “sounds as if he’s well on the road to recovery” after bypass and valve-replacement surgery at Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. The surgery had been planned after doctors monitored him for months, his office said.

Filling in for Kreidler is acting chief deputy Deb McCurley, the deputy insurance commissioner for operations, who said in a statement that people who deal with the office shouldn’t notice any change.

Kreidler was re-elected in November to a fourth term.

Insurance commissioner Kreidler: State needs to pass Reproductive Parity Act

Brad Shannon — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 23:21:21 +0000

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler says the controversial Reproductive Parity Act pending in the Legislature is not essential to have in the next two years, because the state’s health insurers that cover maternity services are locked in to also covering abortion. But Kreidler said the Legislature should write that coverage into state law this year in anticipation that things could change under Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, in the out years.

“That is where there is nervousness right now,” he said of lawmakers’ interest in passing Senate Bill 5009 or House Bill 1044. …

Murray, Cantwell and Dicks join Inslee, Kilmer, Heck for final rallies today in Tacoma and Olympia

Brad Shannon — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 16:19:46 +0000

Three days before the election Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jay Inslee and congressional candidate Denny Heck are making another swing through South Sound this afternoon, joined by the state’s two U.S. senators in Tacoma near the end of a 26-stop state “Tour for Jobs.”

The Tacoma stop is at 12:15 p.m. at IBEW Local 76’s hall, 3049 South 36th Ave. State Democrats say the focus is on tax credits and training programs that have put veterans to work. Among speakers are Inslee, U.S. Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray, retiring 6th district Congressman Norm Dicks and 6th district candidate Derek Kilmer. …

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler will seek reelection

Peter Callaghan — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:36:50 +0000

It would be his fourth term as the state’s insurance commissioner should incumbent Mike Kreidler win in November.

The former state lawmaker and one-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives said in an announcement this morning that he will make health care reform the centerpiece of this campaign.

“The people of our state have a right to choices for quality and affordable health care,” Kreidler said. “We can’t lose this opportunity to make sure that insurance companies compete on price and quality, not on how well they can avoid people with medical problems.”

Kreidler, a Democrat, was an …

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler orders Regence to fix problems

Jordan Schrader — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 16:54:04 +0000

It’s not just state employees and retirees being affected by problems at Regence Blue Shield, Washington’s insurance commissioner says.

Last week I wrote about Regence’s delays in paying doctors for treatment of retirees and others who use the state’s Uniform Medical Plan as secondary insurance. The backlog of unpaid claims had reached nearly 300,000.

Now Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is wading in. He said Wednesday he has ordered parent company Regence Group to develop a plan for correcting its problems, after meeting Sept. 1 with fellow regulators from Oregon, Utah and Idaho and Regence CEO Mark Ganz.

The previously …