News Currents

Calif. Insurance Commissioner Poizner sworn in

Steve Poizner took his oath of office on Jan. 8, becoming California’s new Insurance Commissioner. During his remarks, Poizner vowed to make the office bi-partisan, to lower insurance rates by combating fraud and to help the state prepare for natural disasters.

Poizner said he would divorce his job from ‘politics as usual” and that he would call upon the state Legislature to make the office non-partisan and independent from those being regulated. As an example, he asked Chief Deputy Rick Baum and General Counsel Gary Cohen, who were executives under former Commissioner John Garamendi’s leadership, to remain on board.

Further emphasizing his independence, Poizner said, he plans to ask the Legislature to pass a new law banning contributions to the commissioner’s office from those who are regulated by, or do business with, the Department of Insurance.

A key component of Poizner’s campaign was to combat insurance fraud, and during his inauguration speech, he vowed to follow through on those promises. “Right now, insurance fraud takes $500 out of the pocket of every man, woman and child in this state,” he said. “I’ll enhance the capacity of the fraud units in my department to find and shut down insurance scam operations. And I will work with District Attorneys around the state to make the fraud unit so effective, and so renowned, that in California, criminals will be looking for honest work … or they will be looking through the bars of a prison cell.”

Foreseeing a potential problem, Poizner noted that California needs to be better prepared to deal with a major disaster. He said his office needs to evaluate the coverage offered by the California Earthquake Authority, noting only one in eight homeowners in California has earthquake insurance.

Poizner’s inauguration took place at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose, Calif. Former Bay Area State Senator and current Superior Court Judge Quentin Kopp administered the oath to Poizner.

Man’s cell phone ignites in pocket

A cell phone apparently ignited in a Vallejo, Calif., man’s pocket and started a fire that burned his hotel room and caused severe burns over half his body, fire department officials said.

Luis Picaso, 59, was in stable condition the week of Jan. 8, with second- and third-degree burns to his upper body, back, right arm and right leg, Vallejo Fire Department assistant chief Kurt Henke said.

Firefighters arrived at a residential hotel that night to find Picaso lying on the bathroom floor after a malfunctioning cell phone in his pants pocket set fire to his nylon and polyester clothes, Henke said.

The flames spread to a plastic chair, setting off a sprinkler that held the fire in check, he said.

Authorities declined to name the phone’s manufacturer and model.

The fire and water caused $75,000 damage to the room and a business on the ground floor, Henke said.