NC Candidate Profile: Natasha Marcus (Commissioner of Insurance)

Name: Natasha Marcus

Age: 55

Race: North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance

Party: Democratic

Website: natashamarcus.com

Biography: Natasha Marcus is a three-term North Carolina State Senator and the Democratic Nominee for North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance.

During her tenure in the North Carolina Senate, Natasha Marcus has stood for people over ideology, individual freedoms, and smart investments in the state’s future. She is running to be the next Commissioner of Insurance to serve the people of North Carolina who need and deserve affordable, quality insurance by restoring transparency, advocacy, and accountability to the office.

Natasha Marcus will be the people’s advocate, ensuring that we have a vibrant, competitive marketplace of insurance options with fair rates, honest coverage, and smart regulation.

In sharp contrast to her opponent, Natasha Marcus is free of any entanglements with the insurance companies she will be elected to regulate. She is ready to hold public hearings where she will require insurance companies to justify their rate increase requests with evidence presented under oath and subject to cross-examination. Natasha will fight for affordable, reliable insurance for North Carolinians’ homes, vehicles, businesses, and healthcare and will be an honest, frugal steward of the taxpayer money funding the Department of Insurance.

Senator Marcus currently serves on the Senate Commerce and Insurance, Judiciary, Redistricting & Elections, Budget, and Education committees. She earned her undergraduate degree in public policy from Hamilton College and her law degree from Duke University. After passing the bar exam, Natasha practiced law at the Brooks, Pierce law firm doing civil litigation and clerked for a federal judge in Greensboro. Natasha is a mother of two adult daughters — one is an elementary school teacher and the other is a PhD researcher — and the mother-in-law of an active duty Naval Officer.

Natasha has been on the front lines of community work for decades, including Moral Monday protests, gun violence prevention, Habitat for Humanity builds, marches in support of women’s rights and Black Lives Matter, volunteering at the local free health clinic, leading volunteers on the Obama and Clinton campaigns, co-founding the Democrats of North Mecklenburg group, and organizing voter registration drives. She also mentors young women who are interested in seeking elected office. When not advocating for her community and constituents, you can find Natasha on a run through Davidson, playing trivia at a local coffee shop, fostering stray cats and kittens, or reading to keep up with her book club.

Why are you running for office?

Like so many North Carolinians, I’m fed up with insurance companies squeezing our wallets while making record profits, and I’m sick of elected leaders misusing the public’s trust to enrich themselves and their friends.

In the 8 years he’s been Insurance Commissioner, Mike Causey has approved an unprecedented 16 insurance rate hikes and enabled a special loophole called Consent to Rate (CTR), that allows insurance companies to bill NC consumers 250% more than the max rate! We pay inflated insurance prices due to Causey’s rate hikes and the CTR loophole — that’s unacceptable. It’s also wrong that he relies on $250,000+ in campaign contributions from insurance industry sources and rewards his friends and unqualified political cronies with plum jobs at the Dept of Insurance, paid by taxpayers. He’s supposed to work for the people, but has clearly lost his way.

We deserve affordable, reliable insurance and principled leadership. I’m not taking campaign donations from insurance companies because I want to work for the people, without any conflict of interest. I’ve served in public office for 6 years without ever misusing taxpayer funds and have experience representing people in the courtroom and in the Senate. I’ll be the people’s Commissioner.

If you are elected, what will be your top priority in office?

As Commissioner, my top priority will be ending the excessive rate hikes on North Carolinians’ insurance bills. The incumbent Insurance Commissioner has approved an unprecedented number of insurance rate increases, allowing insurance companies to collect excessive profits on the backs of North Carolinians. He approved 16 rate hikes in a row without holding a single public hearing — no data to justify the increases, no testimony under oath, and no cross-examination. Instead, the incumbent Commissioner met with insurers behind closed doors, only to emerge with yet another rate increase, expecting us to just trust that he set the new, higher rates fairly.

As Commissioner of Insurance, I’ll end the rate racket and restore transparency and accountability to the process. As a former litigation attorney, I am comfortable and experienced in a court-room like setting, such as the public rate increase hearings that my opponent avoids.

Voters can learn more about my plans and priorities at NatashaMarcus.com/priorities.

What is the top challenge facing North Carolina, and how would you address it?

It’s no secret: our state has a cost of living crisis, and over eight years in office, my opponent has offered no relief for North Carolinians. The average American spends about as much on insurance as on food. Most of us are required to have homeowners and auto insurance and our bills have been skyrocketing under Causey’s watch, even when we haven’t filed a claim. It’s a problem that voters of every party affiliation have noticed.

In North Carolina, the Commissioner of Insurance is responsible for protecting our wallets from insurance companies that seek to make massive profits by overcharging for their insurance policies. But the Commissioner we have now is a captured regulator focused on his own interests over those of North Carolinians. He’s sided with the insurance companies every chance he gets, allowing them to raise rates and charge us higher and higher prices for basic insurance. If your homeowners or car insurance bill has shot up even though you didn’t make a claim, you are not alone. It’s happening everywhere in our state. And you should know that without Commissioner Causey’s approval, those rates would not have increased.

I’ll remember that the Commissioner’s job is to make sure rates don’t rise one penny more than necessary to maintain a healthy insurance market. I’ll help unlock our potential by allowing North Carolinians to save on insurance costs, so they can spend their hard-earned money on putting food on the table and gas in their tank.

What is an issue in North Carolina you feel not enough people are talking about it? How would you use the power and influence you’d have in this position to address it?

Check your insurance bill! Across North Carolina, more than 4 out of 10 homeowners policies are subject to Consent to Rate (CTR) , a shady loophole that allows insurers to charge up to 250% more than the legal maximum rate on homeowners, auto, and dwelling policies. My opponent worked to expand this loophole, to disastrous consequences: the National Association of Insurance Commissioners said “CTR usage in North Carolina has dramatically increased over recent years.”

CTR is exactly the kind of corporate grift that the Insurance Commissioner should be cracking down on to lower costs for NC consumers. Yet, Mike Causey defends CTR and praises it as “freedom for insurance companies.” He’s not working for us. He’s focused on helping his friends and campaign donors, the insurance companies, maximize their profits.

How do you work with others you don’t agree with?

I’ve worked as a North Carolina Senator for 6 years, serving well on several bipartisan committees including the Commerce & Insurance committee. We sometimes disagree and, when that happens, I am a respectful, staunch, and persistent advocate for my constituents. I’m experienced with state government and have worked well with the Governor, other members of the Council of State, and legislative and agency officials.

Elected leaders should have mutual respect for each other. As Insurance Commissioner, there will be times when collaboration is appropriate and other times when I’ll respectfully disagree. The Insurance Commissioner should not simply roll over to the legislature; it’s a separate elected office for a reason. The Commissioner also should not fire state fire marshals and firefighters for political reasons. I will do what’s best for the people of NC, who need affordable, reliable insurance.

The Insurance Commissioner’s job is not political. It’s about maintaining a healthy insurance market with affordable, reliable policies for NC consumers. I will find bipartisan ways to reduce the cost of insurance and housing, protect consumers from excessive rate hikes, foster a vibrant marketplace of insurance options for NC policyholders, reduce the number of uninsured drivers and fraudulent insurance claims, and promote resiliency and fuel efficiency in light of increased natural disasters.