COMMISSIONER AWARDED FOR LEADERSHIP:

The Louisiana Health Care Alliance (LHCA) presented Commissioner of Insurance Robert Wooley with its 2004 Leadership in Health Care Award for his commitment to improving the availability and affordability of health care in Louisiana. The group’s president and CEO Butch Passman said many of his colleagues across the country say they don’t have as good a working relationship with their insurance regulator as he does with Commis-sioner Wooley and the Louisiana Department of Insurance. Passman praised the commissioner and noted that the department was instrumental in the creation of the LaCHOICE health care program for small business employees, in partnership with the Department of Health and Hospitals.