NYS Insurance Department Issues Its 150th Annual Report (Around New York‪)‬

In a ritual which has occurred 149 previous times since its formation in 1859, the oldest independent regulatory agency in the United States has issued its 2008 Annual Report to the Governor and the State Legislature. In his letter to the Legislature, Superintendent Eric Dinallo heralded the Department's 150th annual report as a "major milestone" in its proud history. The opening page of the report contains a photographic image of the "First Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Insurance Department, State of New York", and was dated March 1, 1860. According to the annual report, 2008 was another year of protecting the insurance consumer as the Department ordered over a hundred million dollars in credits to policyholders for various insurer violations. Life insurers paid more than $9 million in fines and penalties, health insurers paid over $3 million, and the Department's Frauds Bureau saw to it that wrongdoers paid over $36.5 million in restitution, fines and refunds.