By Merritt Farren, Special for CalMatters<\/p>\n
This commentary was originally published by CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a> for their newsletters.<\/p>\n Guest Commentary written by<\/p>\n More than a year after the devastating Southern California wildfires, CalMatters asked candidates for the 2026 state Insurance Commissioner race to share thoughts on what the state can do to help victims and stabilize insurers.\u00a0Read each candidate\u2019s response here<\/a>.<\/p>\n When my family home burned in the Palisades fire last year, my community suffered a second trauma \u2014\u00a0 navigating a completely broken insurance system that fails consumers and insurers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Premiums are skyrocketing, coverage is disappearing and claims handling too often adds insult to injury rather than assistance.<\/p>\n Determined to turn tragedy into progress \u2014 and to show my two sons that the best response to hardship is to create change that protects others \u2014 I jumped into the State Farm rate proceedings as a consumer advocate.\u00a0That experience led me to work nonstop since June 2025 with insurance industry and consumer protection experts to develop solutions to California\u2019s insurance crisis.<\/p>\n California is the global capital of innovation, yet our government has failed to deliver the innovation our insurance system desperately needs. Millions of families, homeowners and businesses can\u2019t get the insurance they need. Those who can get it face unaffordable rates while service deteriorates.<\/p>\n The Insurance Commissioner role is highly demanding. Success requires deep experience in business, technology and law. I bring that exact combination from my career at Amazon and Disney. At those companies, we tackled massive challenges with bold thinking, technology and a relentless focus on the customer. That\u2019s what California\u2019s insurance system needs \u2014 not tweaks around the edges or more political posturing, but ground-up reform that works for consumers and insurers.<\/p>\n Here is my plan as Insurance Commissioner:<\/p>\n First, I would lead a technology-centric reinvention of our insurance regulations. I\u2019d overhaul outdated rules from the ground up, not by adding more layers that don\u2019t work. Using modern technology, we can expand insurance options, lower costs and strengthen consumer protections while creating a more predictable, hospitable environment that brings insurers \u2014 big and small \u2014 back to California.<\/p>\n Second, I would implement CAL Reinsure \u2014 a plan I\u2019ve developed to replace the failing FAIR Plan. The FAIR Plan is on life support and has become part of the problem. CAL Reinsure removes catastrophic community fire risk from individual insurers and places it with a dedicated reinsurance authority \u2014 modeled on successful programs Florida used for hurricanes, the UK for floods, and the federal government after 9\/11 for terrorism risk.\u00a0<\/p>\n This will make it attractive and financially viable for insurers to write standard home policies again for all Californians. It also mandates full payouts of insured rebuild amounts within 30 days of a total loss, ending the \u201cdelay and deny\u201d trauma, so families can rebuild quickly.<\/p>\n Third, I would provide aggressive leadership on community safety and underlying cost drivers. I\u2019d establish minimum community protection standards for cities and counties, to reduce fire and other risks.\u00a0<\/p>\n At the same time, I\u2019d go line by line \u2014 homeowners, auto, business, and health insurance \u2014 to expose and attack fraud, waste, and other hidden costs that are driving premiums higher and threatening families\u2019 financial security.<\/p>\n The candidate guest commentaries are being published in the order in which they were received.<\/p>\n This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a> and was republished under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives<\/a> license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Merritt Farren, Special for CalMatters This commentary was originally published by CalMatters. 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