Murphy has been the Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance since 2010
According to The State House News Service (“SHNS”), Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance, Joseph Murphy has resigned. The Commissioner tendered his resignation on Thursday, November 20th with plans to officially step down on December 10th. It is believed that the Commissioner plans on entering the private sector. The SHNS says that Gary Anderson, who is currently the First Deputy Commissioner of Insurance, will take over for Murphy until Governor Baker is sworn in and appoints a new Commissioner.
Murphy was first appointed Commissioner of Insurance on February 8, 2010. Prior to his appointment he served as the Division’s First Deputy Commissioner charged with the oversight and day-to-day operations of the DOI with its staff of 130 and $14.5 million dollar budget. In addition to his years at the Division, Murphy also spent 12 years on the Hill as the Chief of Staff for the Joint Committee on Financial Services in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
An integral part of the Division during the transition to Managed Competition
Commissioner Murphy’s time at the Division coincided perfectly with the arrival of Managed Competition. As the First Deputy Commissioner from 2006 through 2009, and then as the Commissioner from 2010 until today, Murphy has been on the front lines of the Massachusetts automobile insurance industry’s transition from the old “Fixed and Established” system to Managed Competition. Under his tenure, the Commonwealth has seen 15 new automobile insurance companies enter the state since April 2008, including some of the largest carriers in the country.
Aside from the transition to Managed Competition, Murphy also focused on the stabilization of health insurance costs in the Commonwealth, and in particular, the rising costs for both individuals and small businesses. The Division says that under Murphy’s leadership, it has exercised its statutory authority “…to scrutinize proposed health insurance rates resulting in savings of over $100 million for Massachusetts businesses and working families.”
On a national level, Commissioner Murphy was an active member of the National Association of Insurance
Commissioners, leading and serving on numerous committees including the Government Relations Leadership Council, Property and Casualty Insurance Committee, Anti-fraud Task Force, the National Insurance Producer Registry Board of Directors and the International Insurance Relations Leadership Group. In December 2013, he was elected for a second time to serve as Treasurer of the Interstate Insurance Product Regulation Commission (IIPRC). The organization allows state regulators to develop uniform insurance standards for asset protection insurance products such as annuities, disability income, life and long-term care insurance.
On a final note of interest to licensed producers in the Commonwealth, Commissioner Murphy was also instrumental in getting Massachusetts to finally sign on to the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) in 2013. Massachusetts had been the last of the 50 states to join the National Registry which allows producers and authorized submitters to use www.nipr.com to electronically apply or renew individual resident and non-resident licenses in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
A Quincy native, and the youngest of nine, Murphy currently resides in Charlestown with his wife and daughter.
