Officials here at the summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners have apologized to a Kentucky lawmaker for an electronic mail message listing him as someone who should not be admitted.
The NAIC denied Rep. Robert Damron, D-Nicholasville, Ky., entry Sunday to an NAIC commissioners' roundtable discussion.
Damron, treasurer of the National Conference of Insurance Legislators, Troy, N.Y., says "he was highly offended" when his name showed up in an e-mail as he tried to enter the roundtable discussion.
After the NAIC denied Damron entry to the roundtable discussion, Andrew Beal, the NAIC's chief legal officer, and Kay Noonan, the NAIC's general counsel, apologized to Damron and told him that a mistake had been made.
The warning e-mail was focused on issues of specific companies and other non-public discussions, Damron says.
But Damron and state Rep. Brian Kennedy, D-Hopkinton, R.I., NCOIL president-elect, were asked to sign statements indicating that they were legislators and had no connections to the insurance industry before they were given NAIC admissions packets.
Damron says seeing his name in the do-not-admit e-mail made the meeting access issue "very personal this morning."
Damron told the guard at the roundtable session not to destroy the do-not-admit e-mail message, because he, Damron, will want to obtain a copy.
Damron says he is waiting to see how the NAIC addresses meeting access in the future before deciding whether to approach the Kentucky attorney general about the way the NAIC closes meetings.
Legislators certainly should have access to an NAIC meeting, unless a meeting focuses on certain types of discussions about specific companies or specific types of personnel or legal issues, but the meetings really should be open to everyone, including consumer representatives and journalists, Damron says.
Damron says he has fought to make sure that Kentucky legislature meetings are open because, if meetings are not kept open, "you risk losing the confidence of the public."
