Mike Chaney
Commissioner of Insurance
Tupelo native and long-time Vicksburg resident Mike
Chaney is Mississippi’s Commissioner of Insurance.
Prior to his election in 2007, Commissioner Chaney served seven years in
the Mississippi House of Representatives and eight years in the
Mississippi Senate, where he became the first Republican to serve as
Chairman of the Education Committee.
Commissioner Chaney also served as a key member of
the Senate Insurance Committee and was one of the authors of the
2007 Wind Pool Insurance bills credited with boosting the state’s
post-Hurricane Katrina recovery.
Chaney co-authored the 1994 Teacher Insurance bill to
give school teachers health insurance and was named 2006 Legislator
of the Year by the Mississippi Realtors and 2007 Legislator of the
Year by the Mississippi Homebuilders Association for his legislative
work in rebuilding the coast following Hurricane Katrina.
Commissioner Chaney was a pioneer in worker’s
compensation when his small business, along with two additional
companies, in 1991 formed the first MMA Workers Compensation
Insurance Pool for business in the state. Today, the pool serves
over 250 member companies and more than 25,000 employees.
He is a 1966 graduate of Mississippi State
University with B.S. in Business and Finance and is a veteran of the
United States Army, serving in Vietnam in 1968-69. He and Mrs.
Chaney are the proud parents of 3 children and 6 grandchildren.
Duties of the Insurance Commissioner
The Commissioner of Insurance is elected
to a four-year term and may be re-elected. Miss. Code Ann. §
83-1-1 et seq. The Commissioner is charged with execution of all
laws relative to insurance companies, corporations, associations and
fraternal orders, their agents and adjusters. The Commissioner
licenses and regulates the practices of all insurance companies,
agents, burial associations, fraternal societies, bail bondsmen, and
other entities engaged in the business of insurance. The
Commissioner, as State Fire Marshal, acting through the State Chief
Deputy Fire Marshal, investigates all fires called to his attention
occurring in the state, licenses manufacturers,
installers/transporters and dealers of mobile homes and regulates
their practices. The Commissioner, through the State Fire Marshal
Division, administers the Mississippi Fire Prevention Code. The
Commissioner, through the Fire Service Development Division,
establishes guidelines, use and accountability for municipal and
county fire protection funds. The Commissioner administers the
Liquefied Compressed Gas Equipment Law (Miss. Code Ann. §
75-57-1 et seq.) and enforces the National Fire Protection Association Code,
Books 54 and 58. The Commissioner encourages and supports all
employees to attain and maintain professional designations in their
career fields.
The Mississippi Surplus Lines
Association (MSLA) is a non-profit association created to provide a
stamping procedure for all eligible non-admitted/surplus lines
insurance policies sold on risks to ensure the proper payment of
premium taxes to the State of Mississippi. This association, under
the direction of the Commissioner, has no separate regulatory
powers. MSLA enables the Department to ensure that proper taxes are
paid to the State of Mississippi. As a result of this law, the State
receives additional taxes that were not received in previous years.
Miss. Code Ann. § 83-21-17 et seq.
In addition to his regular duties, Commissioner Chaney participates in
the following:
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Health Insurance Management Board – Commissioner
Chaney
serves on this board, which oversees the activities of the
statewide Children’s Health Insurance Program, established
under Title XXI of the Social Security Act to provide child
health care assistance to targeted, uninsured, low-income
children.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 41-86-1 et seq.
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Mississippi Automobile Insurance Plan
– Commissioner Chaney or his designee attends meetings of the
Mississippi Automobile Insurance Plan, which was created to
provide automobile insurance coverage to eligible
individuals who are unable to obtain such coverage through
the voluntary market.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 63-15-65
et seq.
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Mississippi Comprehensive
Health Insurance Risk Pool Association - Commissioner Chaney
appoints four members to this nine-member board, which
provides a mechanism to make health and accident insurance
coverage available to those citizens of Mississippi who,
because of health conditions, cannot secure such coverage.
Miss. Code Ann.§
83-9-211 et seq.
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Mississippi Fire
Personnel Minimum Standards and Certification Board –
Commissioner Chaney serves as an ex-officio member of this
board, and appoints fifteen members to this seventeen-member
board. The Director of the State Fire Academy also serves as
an ex-officio member of the board.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 45-11-251 et seq.
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Mississippi
Insurance Guaranty Association (Property and Casualty) –
Commissioner Chaney approves the members of this board, which
consists of not less than five nor more than nine members.
The Association assists in the
detection and prevention of insurer insolvencies and
provides a mechanism for the
payment of covered claims for insurance policies written by
licensed property and casualty insurance companies to avoid
excessive delay in payment and to avoid financial loss to
claimants or policyholders because of insurer insolvencies.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 83-23-101 et seq.
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Mississippi Life &
Health Insurance Guaranty Association - Commissioner
Chaney approves the members of this board, which consists of
not less than five nor more than nine members. The
Association assists in the
detection and prevention of insurer insolvencies and
provides a mechanism for the
payment of covered claims for insurance policies written by
licensed life and health insurance companies to avoid
excessive delay in payment and to avoid financial loss to
claimants or policyholders because of insurer insolvencies.
Miss. Code Ann.
§ 83-23-201 et seq.
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Mississippi Rural Risk Underwriting
Association – Commissioner Chaney approves the plan of
operation of this association, which is charged with
providing essential property insurance coverage to eligible
individuals who have been unable to secure such insurance
through the voluntary market.
Miss. Code Ann.
§ 83-38-1 et seq.
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Mississippi Windstorm
Underwriting Association - Commissioner Chaney approves
the plan of operation of this board and appoints three
members to the board, which coordinates the availability of
wind and hail coverage in the six Mississippi Coastal
counties (Hancock, Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone,
and George). Additionally, a designee of the Commissioner
attends each meeting of the Association.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 83-34-1 et seq.
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Mississippi Workers Compensation Assigned Risk Plan /
Mississippi Workers Compensation Assigned Risk Pool –
Commissioner Chaney is responsible for administration of the
Mississippi Workers Compensation Assigned Risk Plan, and its
reinsurance mechanism, the Mississippi Workers Compensation
Assigned Risk Pool, as stipulated in Miss. Code Ann.
§ 71-3-111 et seq. The Plan and Pool are organized to provide
coverage to eligible employers who seek workers compensation
coverage and are unable to obtain such coverage through the
voluntary market.
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Rural Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Review Committee
– Commissioner Chaney chairs this committee, which is
responsible for reviewing all applications for compliance in
regard to established guidelines for applicants to the Rural
Fire Truck Acquisition Assistance Program as outlined in
Miss. Code Ann. § 17-23-1 et seq.
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State Employees
Health Insurance Board Advisory Council – Commissioner
Chaney serves on this council, which is responsible for
advising the State and School Employees Health Insurance
Management Board concerning the design of a state insurance
plan for state employees.
Miss. Code Ann.§ 25-15-9 et seq.
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State Liquefied
Compressed Gas Board – Commissioner Chaney oversees this
board, which is vested with the power to regulate matters
pertaining to liquefied compressed gas in Mississippi.
Commissioner Chaney appoints seven members to this board,
including one from each of Mississippi’s five congressional
districts, as well as two at-large members.
Miss. Code Ann. § 75-57-1 et seq.
Elizabeth "Cookie" Bell