Frederick AndersenActing Deputy Commissioner of Insurance: Minnesota Department of CommerceFred Andersen serves as Acting Deputy Commissioner of Insurance of the Minnesota Department of Commerce. In this role, he oversees solvency, policy form approval, rate review, and review of insurance transactions for insurance business conducted in Minnesota. He also serves as the Chief Life Actuary of the Department. Besides reviewing financial models related to the reserves and capital of Minnesota’s life insurers, he leads activities in innovation, consumer protection, and market efficiency at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in areas involving long-term care insurance, indexed life and annuity products, variable annuities, and experience data reporting.
Marshal S. AuronDirector: KPMG AdvisoryMarshal Auron is a Director in KPMG’s Market and Treasury Risk Advisory Practice and has supported GSIB and large banking organizations in the areas of resolution/recovery planning, liquidity management, and capital planning/stress testing.
Prior to joining KPMG, Mr. Auron was responsible for the Risk and Policy function in Supervision at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, where he led a team of risk experts, economists, and quants. The Risk and Policy Team participated in various supervisory programs and projects aimed at GSIBs and large banks across the Federal Reserve System (e.g., CCAR, CLAR, Resolution and Recovery, Basel qualification). He also served on the Federal Reserve Committee overseeing bank and non-bank SIFI supervision. Prior to that, Mr. Auron had various roles in lending and risk management at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh, culminating as Chief Risk Officer; he began his career in PNC Bank’s Treasury Function. He has an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh and a BS in Political Science/Economics from American University.
Michelle J. Avery, CPA, CFFSenior Managing Director & President: Veris Consulting, Inc.Michelle Avery is President and Senior Managing Director at Veris Consulting, which specializes in providing forensic accounting and expert witness services to prominent law firms in domestic and international civil litigation involving complex accounting, financial reporting, and economic damage issues. As such she is responsible for directing all phases of forensic accounting services to regulators and attorneys with an emphasis in insurance and financial services. Ms. Avery has significant experience and expertise in financial statement analysis; application of statutory accounting principles (SAP) and U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (US GAAP); evaluation of complex accounting and financial issues; and evaluation of audits performed in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS).
Ms. Avery has extensive experience assisting counsel in evaluations of solvency, the evaluation of financial statements and disclosures, and causation and damage assessments in both arbitration and litigation, in both insurance-related matters and otherwise. She has served as a member of the NAIC/AICPA Working Group Task Force and has served as a member of the Review Committee for both the
Property and Liability Insurance Companies and the
Life and Health Insurance Entities AICPA Audit and Accounting Guides. She served two terms on the International Association of Insurance Receivers (IAIR) Board of Directors. She is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in Virginia, and is Certified in Financial Forensics.
Michael BaharPartner: Eversheds SutherlandMichael Bahar is a Partner and Leader of the Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP Cybersecurity and Privacy team. With extensive interactions with the National Security Council, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Intelligence Community—including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the National Security Agency (NSA), and U.S. Special Operations Command—Mr. Bahar offers clients a wealth of knowledge about data protection, information sharing, privacy, crisis management, and establishing cybersecurity programs that not only accord with evolving laws and regulations, but that also find business opportunities.
Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Mr. Bahar served as Staff Director and General Counsel to the Minority Staff of the U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, and as Deputy Legal Advisor to the National Security Council at the White House. His previous experience also includes serving nearly 10 years on Active Duty with the Navy's Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps.
Mr. Bahar is admitted to the New York State Bar. He has submitted his application to The District of Columbia Bar. His work is supervised by District of Columbia Bar members.
Douglas G. BairdProfessor: University of ChicagoDouglas Baird is the Harry A. Bigelow Distinguished Service Professor at the University of Chicago. He received his undergraduate degree from Yale University
summa cum laude and his J.D. from Stanford. He joined the University of Chicago’s faculty in 1980 and served as its Dean from 1994 to 1999. He has been a visiting professor at Stanford, Harvard, and Yale.
Mr. Baird was Vice Chair of the National Bankruptcy Conference from 1997 until 2004 and Scholar in Residence at the American College of Bankruptcy from 2009–2013. The sixth edition of his one-volume overview of U.S. bankruptcy law,
Elements of Bankruptcy, appeared in 2014.
J. Kevin BaldwinGeneral Counsel & Director of Receivership Operations: Illinois Office of the Special Deputy ReceiverJ. Kevin Baldwin is General Counsel and Director of Receivership Operations for Illinois’s Office of the Special Deputy Receiver (OSD). He has represented the Illinois Director of Insurance and OSD on receivership and troubled company matters, NAIC receivership policy, and receivership legislation for 25 years. Serving as OSD’s General Counsel since 2012, he has developed and overseen receivership resolution plans that have distributed in excess of $2 billion dollars to policyholders and other estate creditors.
Deborah BelloVice President & Chief Regulatory Officer: Prudential Financial, Inc.Deborah Bello is the Chief Regulatory Officer for Prudential. She leads the Regulatory Law Group in the corporate law department and is responsible for the legal staff that provides oversight for significant regulatory matters for all lines of business and corporate center functions for state, federal, and international issues impacting U.S. businesses. The group is also responsible for the preparation of Resolution and Recovery Plans under Dodd-Frank and interacts with the FRB and FDIC with regard to those plans. The group also provides advice regarding Dodd-Frank, FCPA and anti-corruption, privacy, cybersecurity, OFAC and AML issues, and political law issues. This group also conducts internal investigations and FCPA due diligence and provides high tech, e-discovery, cyber incident response, and other forensic services to the Enterprise. Ms. Bello also serves as counsel to the Chief Risk Officer. Prior to this assignment, she served as the Chief Legal Officer, Insurance.
Ms. Bello received a BS in Business Management
summa cum laude from St. Peter’s University and a JD
cum laude from Seton Hall Law School. She has earned the Chartered Property and Casualty Underwriter and Chartered Life Underwriter designations. She is the current President-Elect and a member of the Board of the Association of Life Insurance Counsel. She serves on the Board and is the current Chair of the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations and is on the Board of the Guaranty Association Benefits Company. She is a Trustee of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.
Vincent L. Bodnar, ASA, MAAA
Chief Actuary: LTCGVince Bodnar is recognized as one of the leading long-term-care (LTC) insurance experts in the country. He was recently named one of the 20 most creative people in insurance by LifeHealthPro.com. Mr. Bodnar has 33 years of experience with life and health insurance products, with a concentration in LTC since 1990. He has led projects related to market analyses, new product innovation, development and pricing, in-force management, experience analysis, strategic planning, financial analysis, projections, reinsurance, reserve valuations, and pricing.
Mr. Bodnar is an Associate of the Society of Actuaries and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. He has twice served as the Chairperson of the Society of Actuaries Long-Term Care Insurance Section, in 2005 and 2016. He was the Chairperson of the 2007 and 2011 Intercompany Long-Term Care Insurance Conferences and currently serves on the conference’s board. He has also chaired the SOA’s Long-Term Care Think Tank. He frequently speaks at insurance meetings and has published several papers on the topic of LTC.
Patrick CantiloCo-founder and Managing Partner: Cantilo & Bennett, L.L.P.Co-founder and Managing Partner of the Austin, Texas, boutique firm Cantilo & Bennett, L.L.P., Patrick Cantilo has a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. His law practice is concentrated on insurance complex transactions, regulation, insolvency, and complex litigation. He has lectured and written extensively in the United States and abroad.
Mr. Cantilo is a Principal Charter member and Past President of the International Association of Insurance Receivers (IAIR), holding its highest designation—CIR-ML—and is also very involved in a number of activities of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). For more than two decades he has been rated AV®Preeminent™ by Martindale Hubbell® which also includes him as a Top Rated Lawyer in Mergers & Acquisitions for Ethical Standards and Legal Ability, and he continues to be listed in
The Best Lawyers in America® for Insurance Law,
Best Attorneys in Texas, and
Marquis Who’s Who®.
Michael F. ConsedineChief Executive Officer: National Association of Insurance CommissionersMichael Consedine has spent his entire career in the insurance industry as an attorney, regulator, and executive. Before joining the NAIC in January 2017, Mr. Consedine served as the Global Head of Government and Policy Affairs at Aegon, one of the world's largest financial services companies with operations in 20 countries serving more than 30 million customers. Most notably, Mr. Consedine served as the Insurance Commissioner for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 2011 to 2015, during which he was elected to serve as NAIC Secretary-Treasurer, Vice President, and President-Elect.
Jodie CurtisExecutive Vice President, District Policy Group: Drinker Biddle & ReathJodie Curtis focuses on policy, appropriations, and regulatory issues. She has more than 20 years of experience in government; Congressional affairs; and representing the legislative and regulatory interests of for-profit, non-profit, and global organizations. Ms. Curtis is adept at fostering relationships with elected officials and their staff, working the federal appropriations and authorization processes, building coalitions, and developing public policies and setting organizational priorities. She also advises clients on developing a strategic plan to meet their public policy goals.
Prior to joining Drinker Biddle, Ms. Curtis served as an Assistant Director with Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA), Deputy Chief of Staff for U.S. Representative Thomas M. Barrett (D-WI), Executive Assistant for U.S. Representatives Lynn Rivers (D-MI) and Peter Barca (D-WI), and District Director/Legislative Assistant for Wisconsin State Senator Barbara Ulichny.
David DesserManaging Director: Juris CapitalDavid Desser is the Managing Director of Juris Capital, a privately held commercial litigation investment fund. He is a pioneer in the commercial litigation finance industry and has been a leading manager and investor since 2004. He co-founded and was sole managing director one of the first dedicated commercial litigation investment funds in the United States. He also has consulted on the acquisition and disposition of litigation risk portfolios.
Previously, Mr. Desser was chief legal counsel and served in business development roles at two companies. He spent his early professional career in private practice at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. He received his Juris Doctor from the Georgetown University Law Center and his Bachelor of Arts from Brandeis University, where he played on the men’s varsity basketball and tennis teams. Mr. Desser is a 6-time Ironman Triathlon finisher, including the 2013 Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii.
Peter G. GallanisPresident: NOLHGAPeter Gallanis became President of the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA) in April 1999. NOLHGA was formed in 1983 to coordinate the activities of its 51 member state guaranty associations and their member companies (essentially the entire U.S. life and health insurance industry) in connection with insolvencies of multi-state life and health insurers. Mr. Gallanis is generally responsible for all of the financial, legal, strategic, educational, communications, and administrative services that NOLHGA provides to its membership. He has been an active member of the insolvency response working groups for a number of major insolvencies.
Prior to joining NOLHGA in 1999, Mr. Gallanis was the Special Deputy Insurance Receiver for the State of Illinois, where he managed the administration of approximately 80 insolvent domestic insurers of all types. He had been Illinois Special Deputy Receiver since 1995 and General Counsel of the Office of the Special Deputy Receiver since 1992. Before that, Mr. Gallanis was a partner in a large law firm in Chicago, where he was in private practice from 1978 through 1991.
Mr. Gallanis also served as an adjunct professor, teaching Insurance Law, at the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago from 1992 until he joined NOLHGA in 1999.
Mr. Gallanis received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago in 1975 and a law degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1978. He is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois.
Mr. Gallanis has frequently participated in trial and appellate court receivership proceedings, both on behalf of parties and as amicus curiae. He has lectured and published often on insurance topics in the United States and in Canada, England, Switzerland, Spain, Bermuda, and Taiwan. In addition, he has testified on insurance legislative proposals before state legislatures and the Congress of the United States.
Any comments by Mr. Gallanis during this program are made solely for the purpose of facilitating open and wide-ranging debate on a variety of topics. His comments do not represent the views or positions of his current or former employers, or any past, present, or future clients, and such comments may not reflect the personal views or positions of Mr. Gallanis on any particular issue.
Caryn M. GlawePartner: Faegre Baker DanielsCaryn Glawe is a Partner in the Insurance Practice Group of Faegre Baker Daniels. She advises the insurance industry on state and federal regulatory and transactional matters, counseling insurers, HMOs, and related entities across the country. She works on complex and often contested life, health, annuity, and long-term care receiverships, representing the National Organization of Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA) on multistate receiverships. Ms. Glawe has helped clients with formation and licensing, acquisitions, holding company structure development and transactions, reinsurance agreements, and service agreements. She also helps clients navigate the post–Affordable Care Act landscape, including with respect to Medicare, Medicaid, and exchanges.
Ms. Glawe is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and Butler University and lives with her husband and son in Indianapolis.
Patrick D. HughesPartner: Faegre Baker DanielsPat Hughes serves the insurance industry as a leading regulatory attorney, public policy advocate, and strategic advisor. Bringing his trademark infectious enthusiasm for clients and colleagues, he focuses on federal, state, and international regulatory challenges, helping find solutions across the legal, administrative agency, and legislative arenas. Mr. Hughes helps lead the firm’s federal insurance regulatory and public policy practice, which represents insurance companies and major associations on the industry’s most complex and pressing emerging issues.
Mr. Hughes also served 10 years as a senior regulator with the State of Illinois. He was the Special Deputy Receiver and CEO with the Office of the Special Deputy Receiver (OSD), administering the receiverships of 47 companies in liquidation, rehabilitation, and conservation and managing more than $1 billion in cash and invested assets. He also led business transformations in productivity, financial reporting, and technology—and oversaw record creditor distributions, estate closings, and productivity achievements.
Kristine A. Maurer, Esq.Assistant Director: Insurance Division of the New Jersey Department of Banking and InsuranceKristine Maurer is the Assistant Director of the Insurance Division of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. Ms. Maurer assists Director Peter L. Hartt in managing the regulatory work of more than 300 in six operating units: Solvency Regulation, Consumer Protection, Property and Casualty, Life and Health, the Bureau of Fraud Deterrence, and Captive Insurance. Her work is primarily focused on emerging federal and international insurance regulatory developments; the growth of the insurance markets; insurer acquisitions, solvency regulation, and monitoring of troubled companies; supervision and review of rulemaking and final agency decisions; and coordinating the Department’s participation as a member of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, including serving as chairperson of the Receivership and Insolvency Task Force and as a member of the Group Solvency Issues Working Group and Receivership Model Law Working Group. Ms. Maurer also serves on behalf of the NAIC at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) on its Resolution Working Group.
Prior to beginning her new role with the Department in April 2013, Ms. Maurer was a practicing attorney in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General from 2001 through 2013. During this time, she represented the Department of Banking and Insurance as a Deputy Attorney General, and from 2010 through 2013 she supervised the work of other attorneys as the Assistant Section Chief of the Banking, Insurance and Insurance Fraud Section. While there, she successfully litigated administrative prosecutions on behalf of the Department against insurance licensees and insurance companies and defended the Department’s rulemakings and final decisions in numerous appeals. She also provided legal advice on regulatory and public policy issues of importance to the Department, acted as the Department’s lead counsel on Open Public Records requests, and provided legal counsel for three years to the New Jersey Real Estate Commission.
Ms. Maurer has been a member of the bars in the state of New Jersey and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania since 2001. She earned her J.D. with honors from Rutgers School of Law—Camden in 2001, and while there she was a joint-degree participant with Rutgers’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy in New Brunswick, earning a Master of Public Affairs and Politics degree in 2000. She was also a Harold and Reba Martin fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics during her joint-degree work, which provides graduate students an opportunity to further their understanding of the practice of politics and public affairs through direct access to practitioners in state and national politics and government.
David Meltzer, MD, PhDChief of the Section of Hospital Medicine, Director of the Center for Health and the Social Sciences: UChicago Urban Health LabDavid Meltzer, MD, PhD, is Chief of the Section of Hospital Medicine, Director of the Center for Health and the Social Sciences and the UChicago Urban Health Lab. He is also Chair of the Committee on Clinical and Translational Science at The University of Chicago, where he is The Fanny L. Pritzker Professor in the Department of Medicine, the Harris School of Public Policy Studies, and the Department of Economics. Dr. Meltzer’s research explores problems in health economics and public policy with a focus on the theoretical foundations of medical cost-effectiveness analysis and the cost and quality of hospital care. He currently leads a CMMI Challenge award to study the effects of improved continuity in the doctor-patient relationship between the inpatient and outpatient setting on the costs and outcomes of care for frequently hospitalized Medicare patients. He helped lead the CTSA-funded Chicago Learning Effectiveness Advancement Research Network (Chicago LEARN) and the PCORI-funded Chicago Area Patient Centered Outcomes Research Network (CAPriCORN).
Dr. Meltzer completed his MD and PhD in economics at the University of Chicago and his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His awards include the Garfield Award from Research America, the AHRQ Eisenberg Excellence in Mentoring Award, and the AAMC Learning Healthcare System Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.
Shawna Meyer, FSA, MAAALTC Chief Financial Officer & LTC Chief Actuary: New York LifeShawna Meyer is the LTC Chief Financial Officer and LTC Chief Actuary at New York Life. In this capacity, she is responsible for providing financial leadership and financial partnership with the LTC business unit. She manages the following LTC functional units: Controllership, FP&A, Product Pricing (both stand-alone and benefit-linked LTC), Valuation, Experience Analysis, Assumption Setting, and Projections.
Ms. Meyer has 20 years of experience, primarily in long-term Care. She has also worked with other supplemental health products such as Medicare Supplement and Disability Income. Prior to joining New York Life, she worked for Actuarial Resources Corporation, Ceres Group, and Physicians Mutual.
Ms. Meyer is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries (SOA) and a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is a frequent speaker at industry meetings and currently serves on the SOA LTC Section Council.
Melissa MuellerPartner: Capitol Tax PartnersMelissa Mueller joined Capitol Tax Partners, Washington’s largest independent consulting firm specializing in tax legislative and regulatory matters, in 2011 as a Partner. Prior to that, she held several important positions influencing tax policy on Capitol Hill. She served on the staff of the Ways and Means Committee, first as a Tax Counsel and then as the Staff Director of the Select Revenue Measures Subcommittee (Chairman Richard Neal (D-MA)). Previously, she served on the Finance Committee staff as a Tax Counsel handling corporate and international issues as well as tax reform. Before that, she served as Legislative Director for Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA), a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, and as Counsel for Ways and Means member Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-TX). She was previously named “One of 20 Tax Staffers to Know” by
Tax Notes Magazine.
Her experience on Capitol Hill also includes positions with former Senator Harry Reid of Nevada and former Rep. Ralph Hall of Texas. In the 109
th Congress, she was a Stennis Fellow, a bipartisan leadership development program for senior staff of Congress.
Ms. Mueller filled the post of Assistant Attorney General for the Texas Attorney General, working in Washington on federal cases and legislative matters. She also worked in the first year of the Clinton Administration in the Justice Department for Attorney General Janet Reno.
Ms. Mueller is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and a juris doctorate. She is a member of the Texas and Supreme Court bars and is a Past-President of the Capitol Hill Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. She is an active member and Past Co-Chair of the Tax Coalition, a professional association of women in tax law and policy. She hails from San Antonio, Texas, and is a proud parent of 13-year old twins, Liam and Penny.
Ted NickelCommissioner: Wisconsin Office of the Commissioner of InsuranceGovernor Scott Walker appointed Ted Nickel as Commissioner of Insurance for the state of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011. In addition to supervising OCI staff and serving as the chief regulator of insurance, Commissioner Nickel serves as the final adjudicator of all administrative actions; vice co-chairs the Governor’s Financial Literacy Council; supervises the Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund, Local Government Property Insurance Fund, and State Life Insurance Fund; and serves on the Wisconsin Retirement Board.
Commissioner Nickel is President of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). He currently serves on the Executive (EX) Committee, Cybersecurity (EX) Task Force, Government Relations (EX) Leadership Council, International Insurance Relations (EX) Leadership Group, and the Internal Administration (EX1) Subcommittee. He is a member of the NAIC American Indian and Alaska Native Liaison Committee and serves on several other NAIC task forces and committees. In addition, he chairs the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance (E) Working Group.
Commissioner Nickel is also a member of the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). He is a member of the Executive Committee and the Audit and Risk Committee and Chairs the Site Selection Committee.
In August 2014, the Commissioner was appointed to the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance, which serves as an advisory committee to the Federal Insurance Office.
Commissioner Nickel earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in finance from Valparaiso University.
Franklin D. O’Loughlin Partner: Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP Frank O’Loughlin practices in the area of commercial litigation with an emphasis on insurance litigation, regulation, and transactions. He serves as General Counsel to various states’ life and health insurance guaranty associations and practices on a national level in that area. He also serves as counsel to the insurance industry in regulatory and compliance matters throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Mr. O’Loughlin’s transactional practice includes the sale of insurance companies and the assumption and reinsurance of blocks of insurance business. Additionally, he provides legal advice in the area of property and casualty insurance, including coverage disputes, defense of claims relating to bad-faith breach of insurance contract, and defense of liability cases. He represents insurance receivers and acts as receiver in insurance-related supervisions.
Doug OmmenCommissioner: Iowa Insurance DivisionDoug Ommen was appointed as Insurance Commissioner in January 2016 by Iowa Governor Terry Branstad and Lt. Governor Kim Reynolds. His dedication and desire to serve the public began in seeking justice for fraud victims as an Assistant Attorney General in Missouri, where he criminally prosecuted fraud, leading the fight to protect consumers over the course of three decades.
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner Ommen served as Deputy Iowa Insurance Commissioner since joining the office in August 2013. He also served in the Missouri Department of Insurance from 2005–2008. As Missouri’s Insurance Director, he was instrumental in several key regulatory reforms.
Commissioner Ommen obtained his law degree in 1985 from the Saint Louis University School of Law and is licensed to practice law in both Iowa and Missouri. He and his wife, Sharon, have two married children and two grandchildren.
William P. O’SullivanSenior Vice President & General Counsel: NOLHGAWilliam O’Sullivan serves as chief legal officer for NOLHGA and manages NOLHGA’s Legal Department. As Senior Vice President and General Counsel, he is responsible for advising NOLHGA’s Board of Directors, senior management, Members’ Participation Council, and individual guaranty associations on legal issues and policy matters germane to the operations of the organization. He also serves as the staff contact for NOLHGA’s Legal and Coverage/Claims Committees and as the staff contact/project manager for a number of insolvency task forces, including the Executive Life Insurance Company (California) Task Force.
Mr. O’Sullivan joined NOLHGA in 1995 as Vice President and Counsel and was named to his current position in 1998. Prior to joining NOLHGA, he was employed in the corporate law departments of Prudential Capital, a subsidiary of the Prudential Insurance Company of America, and KTI Energy.
Mr. O’Sullivan received his B.A. in economics from the University of Virginia and his J.D. from Boston College Law School.
Keith PasswaterSenior Vice President, Corporate Finance & Actuarial: AnthemKeith Passwater is Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance & Chief Actuary at Anthem. In this role, he guides the enterprise Budgeting, Forecasting, Reserving, and Clinical Finance teams. Since joining Anthem, he has held positions in the company with oversight for pricing, financial analysis, and informatics. Prior to joining Anthem, he led aspects of Finance and Actuarial within Coventry Health Care, Aon, and Cigna.
Mr. Passwater obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Actuarial Science from Ball State University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and is a Member of the American Academy of Actuaries, for which he chairs the Committee on Qualifications. He also serves on the Board of Directors of LTC Re, a captive insurer created to coordinate the orderly runoff of Penn Treaty long-term-care business on behalf of the GAs.
Briget PolicheneVice President & Head, Federal Government Relations, Global Government Relations: MetLife, Inc.Briget Polichene is Vice President and Head of Federal Government Relations at MetLife. In this role, she draws on years of experience in Washington, D.C.; state capitals; and financial services companies to effectively represent MetLife on Capitol Hill and before executive branch agencies.
Ms. Polichene’s government service includes her role as the General Counsel of the Indiana Department of Insurance and the General Counsel of the U.S. House of Representatives Banking Committee. Her corporate experience includes serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel of Citigroup state government affairs; Chief Privacy Officer of Conseco (now CNO Financial Group); a lawyer in private practice; and, most recently, as a director at Promontory Financial Group, a financial services consulting company. In all of these roles, she grappled with the federal, state, and legal issues surrounding the policy and politics of financial services.
Ms. Polichene received her law degree from Duke University and her B.A. in economics from Johns Hopkins University. She is a member of the Riley Hospital for Children Foundation Advisory Committee, and she and her husband, Chuck Chamness, are active in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation by raising funds for pediatric cancer research.
Anthony PonceBackseat Rider Podcast
Anthony Ponce is a veteran Chicago journalist. In July 2016, he received national attention when he announced he quit his job as an anchor/reporter at NBC to become a full-time Lyft driver and launch the storytelling podcast,
Backseat Rider. In his new role, he brings audiences the wide-ranging, hilarious, touching, sometimes bizarre, and always real conversations he has with his passengers. “Listening is a lost art form,” he told CNN. “What I think is missing right now in our national dialogue is aggressive listening.”
Ponce graduated from Indiana University and has a Masters in Journalism from Northwestern University. He lives on the North Side of Chicago with his wife, Maggie, and son, Theo.
Neil PosnerPartner: Much, Shelist, Denenberg, Ament & Rebenstein, P.C.Neil Posner successfully counsels his clients on the complexities of buying and maintaining insurance and using insurance as part of an overall risk-management program. As Chair of the firm’s Policyholders’ Insurance Coverage group, he focuses on insurance recovery and dispute resolution, risk management, loss prevention, and cost containment. His clients include public and private companies, organizations, boards of directors, individual officers, and other policyholders. In addition, he serves his firm as in-house ethics-and-professionalism counsel and serves the same role for other law firms.
Mr. Posner has testified as an expert witness on legal professional responsibility cases. He is a member of the ABA Section of Litigation Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee, the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers, and American College of Coverage and Extracontractual Counsel. He speaks frequently on legal ethics at these organizations’ conferences, among others.
Eric ShiffmanSupervisory Special Agent – Criminal Cyber Investigations / Task Force FBI Chicago DivisionEric Shiffman joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in November 2005 in Chicago where he investigated financial crimes. In 2008, he expanded his expertise into the counterintelligence area. In September 2012, he joined the cyber branch; and in 2014 SSA Shiffman was promoted to his current assignment is a Supervisory Special Agent for Criminal Cyber Investigations and overseeing the Regional Computer Forensics Lab at the FBI Chicago Field Office.
Stephen A. SerfassPartner: Drinker Biddle & ReathStephen Serfass is a Partner with Drinker Biddle & Reath, where he is a member of the Insurance Department. He has been the leader of the firm’s Long Term Care Insurance Team since 2003. He serves LTC insurers on a wide range of issues, including class actions, individual litigation, and regulatory compliance (concerning information privacy, security issues, and beyond), acting as counsel overseeing claims audits, proposed claim denials and related claims issues, policy drafting, fraud prevention, rate increase counseling, and other matters. He also currently serves as Acting General Counsel for three LTC insurance community members.
Beyond his work in LTC, Mr. Serfass also has a depth of experience representing insurers on life insurance issues as well as environmental insurance issues. Before joining Drinker Biddle, he worked in-house for nearly three years for an environmental insurer. He graduated from Penn State University with a B.S. and received his juris doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law, where he was a member of the
Rutgers Law Review. He lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and five children.
James H.M. Sprayregen, P.C.Partner, Restructuring: Kirkland & Ellis LLPJames Sprayregen is a Restructuring Partner in the Chicago and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP and serves on Kirkland’s worldwide management committee. He is recognized as one of the outstanding restructuring lawyers in the United States and around the world and has led some of the most complex Chapter 11 filings in recent history. Mr. Sprayregen has extensive experience representing major U.S. and international companies in restructurings out of court and in court around the globe. He has handled matters for clients in industries as varied as manufacturing, technology, transportation, energy, media, and real estate. He has extensive experience advising boards of directors and generally representing debtors and creditors in complex workout, insolvency, restructuring, and bankruptcy planning matters worldwide.
Chambers & Partners has praised Mr. Sprayregen for his “outstanding reputation for complex Chapter 11 cases,” noting he is a “great clients’ lawyer, admired for his unflustered ways.” Chambers said that clients it spoke to noted that he is “probably the best restructuring lawyer in the world.” Most recently, the 2015 edition of
Chambers USA described Mr. Sprayregen as “a world-class practice leader,” one of the “deans of the Bar,” and “one of the guys you would go to if you have one of the biggest cases.” In 2014, Mr. Sprayregen was described by
Chambers USA as “the godfather of restructuring” and “one of the major stars of the industry.” Prior editions of
Chambers recognized Mr. Sprayregen as “a restructuring genius and one of the best strategists in the country,” noting that clients look to him as someone who is “providing leadership and strategic guidance on the big issues.” Sources commended Mr. Sprayregen for his “incredible work ethic and skill” and for his ability to “bring a mastery of the law to practical application.” Clients are “impressed by his boundless energy to work on issues” and note that Mr. Sprayregen is “very good in complicated and difficult situations.”
In March 2010, Mr. Sprayregen was selected by
The National Law Journal as one of “The Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” He was named “Global Insolvency & Restructuring Lawyer of the Year” in 2013 by
Who’s Who Legal Awards, receiving more votes from clients and peers than any other individual worldwide. In October 2013, Mr. Sprayregen was inducted into the Turnaround Management Association (TMA) Turnaround, Restructuring, and Distressed Investing Industry Hall of Fame?. From 2013–2015, he was appointed to serve a two-year term as the President of INSOL International, the leading insolvency association in the world.
Stephen Swedlow Co-Managing Partner: Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLPStephen Swedlow is Co-Managing Partner of the Chicago office of Quinn Emanuel and is a trial expert who has focused his entire career on complex civil cases, having tried over 20 cases to verdict both as lead counsel for plaintiffs and defendants. With respect to patent litigation, he has tried to verdict successful claims on behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, developing innovative damages theories in the context of comparable licensing affirmed by the Federal Circuit. With respect to class actions, he has represented defendants (and plaintiffs) in over 100 complex class actions and is one of the few attorneys in the country who has served as lead counsel in two successful class-action trials actually tried to verdict.
After completing his clerkship for Judge Farris of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 1996, Mr. Swedlow’s practice has included first chair jury trials in many complex subject matters, including intellectual property, antitrust, environmental, class action, wage/hour/employment, and products liability. He was a Trial Lawyer of the Year finalist in 2003 for obtaining the largest civil verdict in Illinois history and has been an Illinois “Super Lawyer” from 2006–2017. He has served as lead counsel in multi-party jury trials and arbitrations; led large, multi-party litigation efforts; and argued (and won) important appeals, including several before state Supreme Courts and federal appellate courts.
Mr. Swedlow has over 20 years of experience litigating healthcare-related and pharmaceutical disputes. Currently, he serves as lead counsel in a certified class action on behalf of health insurance companies against the U.S. Government seeking Risk Corridors payments due under the Affordable Care Act.
Before joining Quinn Emanuel, Mr. Swedlow founded his own law firm of Swedlow & Associates, where he was one of the few lawyers ever to serve as lead trial counsel on two separate class-action trials taken to verdict. He is an invited lecturer at Northwestern University Law School on statutory torts, complex civil litigation, and class actions. He has also been retained by foreign governments to provide guidance and expertise with respect to cost recovery actions.
Mark Thibodeaux Deputy Practice Leader for Cybersecurity & Privacy: Eversheds Sutherland LLPMark Thibodeaux is Deputy Practice Leader for Cybersecurity and Privacy at Eversheds Sutherland (US). A commercial litigator with a deep information technology background, he has helped companies deal with difficult electronic data issues for more than 25 years. Prior to practicing law, he served as a penetration tester, cybersecurity and information systems controls consultant, and auditor for two of the world’s largest public accounting firms before joining a major international energy company, where he became Chief Information Technology Officer.
Mr. Thibodeaux has assisted companies with dozens of cybersecurity incidents, both as a security adviser and as an attorney, including serving as breach coach, liaising with law enforcement agencies, and representing clients before federal and state regulators and in class-action litigation. He is a frequent speaker and author on cybersecurity and privacy issues. In addition to practicing law, Mr. Thibodeaux holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science, is a Certified Public Accountant, and holds the CIPP/US certification from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
JoAnn VolkResearch Professor: Georgetown University Center on Health Insurance ReformsJoAnn Volk is a Research Professor at Georgetown University’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms. There she directs research, authors papers, and provides technical assistance on state and federal regulation and legislation governing private health insurance, including health insurance marketplaces under the Affordable Care Act. She serves as a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and is a member of the Committee on Performance Measurement at the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
Prior to joining Georgetown, Ms. Volk represented the AFL-CIO on healthcare policy before Congress and the Administration. She has also conducted research at Abt Associates and served as an aide to the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. She has an M. A. in Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University and a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College.
Susan E. VossVice President & General Counsel: American Enterprise GroupSusan Voss grew up in Fairfield, Iowa. A lifelong Iowan, she graduated from Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa, with a BA in History. She attended Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington, receiving her JD in 1981. She worked for 31 years in Iowa state government, with the last 20 at the Iowa Insurance Division.
During her time as an insurance regulator, Ms. Voss was instrumental in creating a system of mediation services for homeowners during the floods in 1993 and 2008 that devastated thousands of homes in Iowa. She was a member of several healthcare reform committees in the mid-1990s, culminating in small and individual health insurance reform statutes in Iowa that were the basis of model legislation at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). She served as First Deputy Insurance Commissioner from 1999 to 2004.
In 2005, Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack appointed her Iowa Insurance Commissioner. She served as Commissioner for three Governors—two Democrats and one Republican. She was elected by her peers as an officer of the NAIC in 2007 and served as its President in 2011. She was the Chair of the Market Conduct and Regulation Committee as well as the Principles-Based Reserving Working Group. She also served on the Life and Annuities Committee, the Financial Condition Committee, and the Financial Regulation Standards and Accreditation Committee.
Ms. Voss was a member of the International Insurance Committee at the NAIC and chaired the committee in 2012. During her tenure on the committee, she represented state insurance regulatory interests at the OECD, ASSAL, EIOPA, CIRC, and IAIS. She was the insurance representative at several Strategic and Economic Summits between China and the United States.
Ms. Voss worked closely on legislation included in the Dodd-Frank Act to exempt certain annuities from SEC oversight. Throughout her tenure as Commissioner and particularly during the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, she met regularly with Treasury officials to affect better regulatory cooperation and understanding of financial issues. She testified before Congress on several occasions regarding state-based insurance regulation.
Ms. Voss has received several recognitions over the years, including Des Moines Business Record Woman of Influence, Simpson College Hall of Fame, Fairfield High School Hall of Fame, and her recent induction into the Iowa Insurance Hall of Fame in 2013. After providing insurance consulting services for about a year, she joined American Enterprise Group, Inc., as Vice President and General Counsel.
Ms. Voss serves on the Board of Directors of the United Fire Group, Inc., a property-casualty insurance company. She is also a member of the Board of the National Organization of Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Associations (NOLHGA).
Alison F. WatsonPartner: Faegre Baker DanielsAlison Watson represents insurance and banking clients in federal relations, public policy, and regulatory strategy from Washington, D.C. She knows the ins and outs of the Nation’s Capital, having worked on the Hill for industry and trade associations since 1994—first in banking, then since 2008 in the insurance industry.
Before joining Faegre Baker Daniels, Ms. Watson was Director of Federal Relations in Northwestern Mutual’s Washington, D.C., office. Prior to her eight years at Northwestern Mutual, she managed the government and industry relations office in Washington and served as Legislative Counsel for Washington Mutual Inc. Other experience includes serving as Senior Legislative Counsel with the American Bankers Association, advocating on behalf of small, regional, and large banks.
Ms. Watson worked on Capitol Hill for six years on the staff of the House Committee on Banking and Financial Services, where she focused on comprehensive financial services modernization legislation. Her career began as a bank regulator for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting from The University of Alabama and her J.D. from Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.