Oklahoma Insurance Department Mourns Loss of Horace Rhodes

January 3, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Oklahoma Insurance Department is mourning the loss of former Deputy Insurance Commissioner Horace Rhodes. Rhodes, 86, died Jan. 1 after a long illness, the department announced.

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Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner No. 2 User of State-Owned Plane

January 8, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak has crisscrossed the state in state-owned aircraft on his mission to educate the public and reach out to constituents.

As a result, Doak is the top statewide elected official using state-owned aircraft, behind Gov. Mary Fallin. The costs billed to his agency are $3,462.

His predecessor, Kim Holland, did not use state-owned aircraft to travel, according to the Department of Public Safety.

Doak said he is the only insurance commissioner to visit each of the state’s 77 counties each year.

He said the voices of people in Grove, Antlers and Woodward are just as important as those in Tulsa and Oklahoma City.

Fallin, Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb and Doak are the only statewide elected officials to use state-owned aircraft.

Lamb used the aircraft on June 5 to travel to western Oklahoma. The cost was $2,264, according to DPS.

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Oklahoma Panel Clears Roofing Bond Requirement Bill

March 22, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An Oklahoma House committee has approved a proposal that its sponsor said would help protect Oklahomans from what he called subpar roofing

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Oklahoma Insurance Department: Police Chiefs Support Armed Investigators

December 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Oklahoma Insurance Department faced intense criticism after a report revealed it spent more than $180,000 on high-tech shotguns, bulletproof vests and seven police-package vehicles for its anti-fraud unit. Now, the Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) has passed a resolution of support for the department’s actions, the OID announced.

Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak has defended the purchases, saying the help ensure the safety of investigators and are not paid for with taxpayer money.

The OACP passed the resolution after hearing from Doak and the department’s anti-fraud investigators at an OACP meeting on Dec. 13.

“Fraud is something we take very seriously,” Doak told the group. “We know your resources are strained. When you’re stretched to the limit, we can step in and investigate the insurance fraud cases that otherwise would go untouched. We’re here to help you.”

OACP President and Director of Public Safety for the City of Stillwater Norman McNickle said the members of the OACP support the anti-fraud unit 100 percent.

“What Commissioner Doak and his investigators provide is so valuable to Oklahoma law enforcement agencies,” said McNickle. “They target an area of crime that many times goes unpunished simply because of lack of resources or manpower. We’re grateful to the Anti-Fraud Unit for filling that gap. We also believe its investigators should have the proper equipment and weapons to protect themselves in the line of duty. Every law enforcement officer knows that a ‘routine’ investigation can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.”

The OACP also voiced support for the OID’s legislative agenda, which includes a bill allowing law enforcement officers to pull over a driver for failing to obtain current auto insurance.

Source: Oklahoma Insurance Department

 

Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: anti-fraud unit, John D. Doak, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Association of Chiefs of Police, weapons purchasesHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Oklahoma Bill Would Regulate Pharmacy Benefit Managers

February 13, 2013Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A bill introduced in the Oklahoma Legislature seeks to regulate pharmacy benefit managers

State Rep. David Derby (R-Owasso) and state Sen. Rob Standridge (R-Norman) introduced House 2100, to bring pharmacy benefit managers under the regulation of the Oklahoma State Board of Pharmacy.

Derby said pharmacy benefit managers have increasingly become direct deliverers of prescription drugs to patients through out-of-state mail-order systems, but have yet to be regulated in the same way as their licensed colleagues practicing in the Oklahoma retail community pharmacy setting.

To protect patients under industry confidentiality standards and to minimize wasteful prescriptions in a costly industry, House Bill 2100 would extend well-meaning regulation to this larger prescription drug delivery industry.

Derby pointed out the issue at the core of the legislation.

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2nd Worker Injured in Oklahoma Refinery Blast Dies

October 19, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A second man who was injured in an explosion at a southern Oklahoma oil refinery has died.

A spokesman at the University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City says Russell Mann of Davis died Oct. 16.

Mann was injured and Billy Smith of Pauls Valley was killed in the Sept. 28 explosion of a boiler at Wynnewood Refining Co., owned by CVR Energy Inc. of Sugar Land, Texas.

CVR officials have said the explosion occurred as the boiler was being restarted following scheduled maintenance and upkeep

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Oklahoma Legislator Criticizes Insurer Premium Tax Credits

September 28, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle2 Comments

The head of a state House committee that’s scrutinizing millions of dollars in business tax credits is questioning the growth in credits used by insurance companies and whether the state should be reimbursing counties and schools for tax revenue lost when property owners take exemptions.

Rep. David Dank, R-Oklahoma City, took particular aim at the home office tax credit, which he said is granted to insurance companies based in the state that employ a certain number of workers. The home office tax credit grew from about $8.5 million in 2006 to almost $17 million in 2012, he said during a meeting of the House Tax Credits and Economic Incentive Oversight Committee.

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Former Insurance Agent Headed to Prison for Defrauding Oklahoma Seniors

November 9, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Former Oklahoma insurance agent Marshall Virden has been sentenced to two years in prison for defrauding senior citizens in Wagoner County, the Oklahoma Insurance Department (OID) announced. The punishment comes after a lengthy investigation by the OID.

Virden pled guilty to one felony count of exploitation of elderly. He received a 10-year sentence with eight years suspended. He was also given credit for time served.

OID investigators discovered that Virden held investment seminars across the state. He would then convince these unsuspecting “customers” to cash in their life insurance and annuity products in exchange for precious metals such as gold and silver. Victims later learned that their investments were fraudulent and that Virden had fled the state.

The insurance department said that hhanks to the efforts of the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Marshals Service, Virden was eventually arrested in Florida.

“This sentence is just the beginning,” stated Insurance Commissioner John Doak. “Virden faces charges in two other counties, and we believe there are more victims who haven’t come forward. We encourage them to do so. We are determined to protect every Oklahoma senior against insurance fraud.”

Source: OID

 

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Oklahoma Joins Suit Challenging Dodd-Frank Financial Overhaul

September 21, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticle1 Comments

The State of Oklahoma has joined a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Dodd-Frank, a financial overhaul designed to

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Oklahoma House Defeats Alternative Workers’ Comp Measure

April 27, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

The Oklahoma House has defeated workers’ compensation legislation that would have allowed large employers to opt-out of the state’s workers’ compensation system.

In a bipartisan vote on April 25, House members voted 50-42 against the bill. Its author, Rep. Fred Jordan of Jenks, held it over for reconsideration, meaning it could be brought back up for another vote.

The measure would have authorized an employer to be exempted from Oklahoma’s Workers’ Compensation Code as long as it met certain requirements. The employer must adopt a written benefit plan that provides for payment for any injury, disability or death caused by an occupational injury.

Supporters said it would help reduce workers compensation costs for qualifying employers. Opponents said it would reduce benefits for injured workers and would not reduce costs.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: legislation, Oklahoma, workers' compensationHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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3 Missing After Trains Collide in Rural Oklahoma

June 26, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Three Union Pacific crew members remain missing after two trains collided in the Oklahoma Panhandle, causing a white-hot fire that emergency crews are struggling to extinguish.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol Trooper Betsy Randolph says the fire near Goodwell is contained but was still burning Monday morning. A National Safety Transportation Board team is investigating the Sunday morning crash.

Each train carried two crew members, and officials say one conductor survived after jumping off the train. Three crew members are missing.

Randolph says firefighters from Fort Worth, Texas, were en route with fire-suppressing foam after hundreds of gallons of water failed to put out the blaze. After the fire is extinguished, crews must wait for the metal to cool before they can safely search the trains for any sign of the missing crew.

Authorities have reopened part of U.S. Highway 54 in the Oklahoma Panhandle that was closed after the trains collided near Goodwell.

Randolph says traffic is being routed into the eastbound lane of U.S. 54, which had been closed in both directions between Guymon and Texhoma. The westbound lane will remain closed until further notice.

She says drivers are encouraged to pay attention to the traffic and not the train collision to avoid any possible accidents.

A conductor of one of the trains survived.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: Liability, Oklahoma, Safety & Loss Control, train crash, workers' compensationHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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Oklahoma Insurance Agent Headed to Prison for not Filing Tax Returns

May 8, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

An Oklahoma insurance agent has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for not filing his federal income tax returns.

Barry G. Brockman of Oklahoma City was sentenced for not filing tax returns for the calendar years 2003 and 2004, according to Sanford C. Coats, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.

Since 1998, Brockman has worked as an independent insurance agent in Oklahoma City, Moore, and Norman, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported. On April 14, 2010, Brockman was charged with willful failure to file a federal tax return for calendar years 2003, 2004 and 2005.

Court filings showed that Brockman earned more than $1.2 million in gross income from his insurance business during those three years, but did not timely file federal income tax returns. On Oct. 12, 2010, Brockman pled guilty to willfully failing to file a federal tax return for 2003 and 2004.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Doyle W. Argo recently sentenced Brockman to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by one year of supervised release. That sentence includes 12 months of imprisonment on both counts, to be served consecutively. In addition, Brockman was ordered to pay $241,406.21 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service for taxes owed for 2003, 2004 and 2005.

These charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Chris M. Stephens and Suzanne Mitchell.

Source: Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma

 

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New Law in Oklahoma Toughens Penalties for Insurance Fraud

May 14, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

A bill recently passed and signed by the governor toughens the penalties for insurance fraud, state officials say.

Senate Bill 1439, requested by Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak, is expected to save taxpayers millions of dollars, according to the Oklahoma Insurance Department.

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Lawmakers Say Oklahoma Insurance Options Could Increase Under Proposal

April 9, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Oklahomans could have the opportunity to purchase insurance from companies across the nation under legislation approved by a state House of Representatives committee.

Senate Bill 1059, by state Sen. Bill Brown and state Rep. Lewis Moore, would create the

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Survey: Oklahoma Businesses Confident About Future

April 6, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Most Oklahoma business executives are confident their businesses will grow and about a third plan to hire workers this year, according to the findings of an online survey of company owners and officials released on April 4.

But more than half are less than positive about government services and do not believe future state legislation will have a positive impact on their businesses, according to the survey.

The survey was launched in December by Gov. Mary Fallin and Department of Commerce officials to determine what business leaders want to help their businesses grow. Fallin has made economic development and job creation her administration’s top priority.

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Federal Disaster Assistance Denied for Oklahoma

April 23, 2012Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetArticleComments

Gov. Mary Fallin’s office says her request for federal assistance to individuals and businesses affected by a tornado that killed six in Woodward has been denied.

A news release said that Fallin will now ask the U.S. Small Business Administration for a disaster declaration for Woodward County.

The early morning tornado on April 15 left three girls 10 and younger and three men dead.

Preliminary damage assessments found the storm affected 224 homes and businesses in the county. Of those, 73 were destroyed, 22 had major damage and 21 had minor damage.

An SBA disaster declaration would provide for low interest disaster loans for renters, homeowners and business owners to repair or replace property damaged by the severe weather if it is not covered by insurance or other assistance programs.

 

Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Email ThisPrintNewslettersTweetCategories: Texas / South Central NewsTopics: assistance, Disaster (Flood,Coastal,EQ,W-Fire,etc.), fallin, tornado, woodwardHave a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk

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