Iowa Insurance Commissioner to step down at the end of the year

Iowa Insurance Commissioner Nick Gerhart - who led the state's implementation of the Affordable Care Act - announced Monday afternoon that he will be stepping down from his post at the end of the year.

'I'm honored to have had the chance to serve Iowans by leading the Iowa Insurance Division,” he said in a news release. 'However, both myself and my family feel that as my term is ending, now is the right time to move forward to other opportunities and focus on our family as it continues to grow.”

Gerhart, 41, told The Gazette that he and his wife are expecting their fourth child. He is unsure of what his next step is, but, an Iowan native, he believes it'll be in the state. His last day as commissioner will be Dec. 23.

'I want to thank Nick Gerhart for his service as insurance commissioner to the state of Iowa,” Gov. Terry Branstad said in a news release. 'He is a bright and talented individual who focused on protecting the public while making the industry better and more competitive in our state.”

Deputy Commissioner Doug Ommen will serve as the interim insurance commissioner. Ommen has served as deputy commissioner in Iowa since 2013, according to the insurance division. Before that, he worked as Missouri's insurance commissioner under Gov. Matt Blunt.

Gerhart led the team that created and hosted the Global Insurance Symposium in Des Moines - an event that attracts more than 400 people from around the world to discuss emerging issues on insurance. He also spearheaded a campaign to educate seniors to better deal with and protect themselves against insurance fraud.

Most important, Gerhart was in charge of the state agency during a transformative time in the insurance industry - the state began to implement the Affordable Care Act in 2013, the same year he was appointed. He oversaw the division as Iowa worked to expand Medicaid as well as held hearings - and eventually approved - sharp premium increases insurers sought to deal with rising prescription and health care costs.

Health insurers have come and gone during Gerhart's four-year stint - UnitedHealthcare announced it would sell on the exchange in spring 2015 only to pull out of the state exchange this April; Minnesota-based Medica and Coventry Health Care expanded to the state; and in December 2014, CoOportunity Health became the first of many health co-ops nationwide to collapse.

Gerhart had to take over control of the not-for-profit CoOportunity and unwind it as well as help transition the more than 120,000 people in Iowa and Nebraska to new plans.

'There were some pretty monumental things that happened in the past four years,” he told The Gazette. 'In some regards, it feels a lot longer.”

l Comments: (319) 398-8331; chelsea.keenan@thegazette.com