The Case of the Missing Market Conduct Exams: Part II

In late January, I wrote a blog post highlighting the absence of any published market conduct exams on the Oklahoma Insurance Department website after 2009, despite the OID’s claim that “[a]s part of the regulation process, we perform and publish Market Conduct Examinations.” In an attempt to figure out what was going on, I submitted an open records request seeking all OID market conduct exams conducted after 2009 and promised I would keep everyone posted.

Four months later, we have some answers – sort of.

I submitted my request on January 25, and received a response a few days later, stating that, due to the volume of my request (all market conduct exams since 2009), it would take the OID longer than their typical 10-day turn-around to provide responsive documentation. Fair enough. I then heard nothing for over a month. In mid-March, I reached out again to check on the status of my request. It was at this point I was informed that market exams in Oklahoma are confidential by statute under 36 OS § 309.4(F).

While I’m sure insurers love the confidentiality imposed on market conduct exams by Oklahoma law, I think it does insurance consumers a great disservice. The entire purpose of market conduct exams is to ensure insurers are complying with state law by mandating transparency and accountability. An unfavorable market conduct exam serves as nothing more than a slap on the wrist if consumers and their advocates do not have access to them. How are consumers supposed to fully assess their options in the insurance market if they have no way of knowing which insurers are repeat offenders?

The case of the missing market conduct exams doesn’t end there, though. My OID contact informed me that some market conduct exams are available anyways, as they become public records when attached to a final market conduct Order.¹ Since 2009, the OID has conducted 89 exams fitting this description. I asked for a list of those exams, which I received at the beginning of this month. However, before I share that list with you, I’d like to note that if the only way to obtain information regarding these exams is a four-month-long battle with the OID culminating in a $753.20 invoice to obtain their contents, these exams are pointless to the average Oklahoma consumer. The fact that they are considered confidential unless attached to an order is bad enough. At the very least, the OID should be publishing the exams that aren’t confidential on their website, as they did up until 2009, and like their website claims they still do. Market conduct exams are supposed to bring an insurer’s bad conduct to light – but after four months, many e-mails, and a sizable invoice later, I can tell you that, at least in Oklahoma, insurers are successfully keeping their market conduct exams and their consumers in the dark.

And without further ado – here’s a list of all non-confidential market conduct exams conducted by the Oklahoma Insurance Department since 2009:

Note: If you want to request any of the above exams, you must fill out an open records request form with the exam case number and style and e-mail it to oidopenrecords@oid.ok.gov. Typical response time should be about ten days. The OID charges $0.40 per page for copies per 36 O.S. § 321. Good luck!

¹ See 36 OS § 306.