HMO Regulator Confirmed, Ending Political Tussle

After a contentious confirmation battle over the state’s top HMO regulator and last-minute moves by the Wilson administration to appease opponents, the California Senate on Thursday unanimously confirmed Keith Bishop as commissioner of the California Department of Corporations.

Bishop, a Republican appointee of Gov. Pete Wilson’s, had been serving as acting commissioner for exactly one year. Thursday was the last day he could hold office without Senate confirmation.

Bishop’s confirmation had been opposed by critics who accused him of a pro-industry bias and of failing to adequately police HMOs and investigate consumer complaints. His confirmation was supported by the California Medical Assn. and the California Healthcare Assn.

The Democrat-controlled Senate Rules Committee had held up confirmation of the 40-year-old West Covina securities lawyer for several weeks as Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) sought assurances from the governor that enforcement would be toughened.

In response, Wilson this week authorized a 73% increase in the agency’s budget for health-care regulation and appointed an ombudsman to handle consumer complaints. The moves paved the way for Thursday’s easy confirmation.

The rules committee voted 5 to 0 to recommend Bishop’s confirmation for the $108,000-a-year post. His appointment was then routinely approved by the full Senate.

But some of Bishop’s critics renewed their calls to move authority over HMO regulation out of the Department of Corporations to another state agency.

Although he spoke in favor of Bishop’s confirmation, Sen. Herschel Rosenthal (D-Los Angeles) said he had “serious concerns” about Bishop’s health-care expertise. He suggested that although Bishop is well-suited to regulate securities dealers and other businesses--the traditional responsibilities of the corporations agency--”I do not believe that a securities lawyer is the best person” to oversee health-care regulation.

Rosenthal, an outspoken critic of managed-care industry practices, has written a bill to create a new HMO regulatory board that would be part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. Other proposed bills would transfer HMO oversight to the Department of Insurance or other agencies.

Consumers for Quality Care, a Los Angeles organization that opposed Bishop’s confirmation, endorses an elected insurance commissioner to regulate managed-care companies.

The California Assn. of Health Plans, an HMO trade group, took no formal position on Bishop’s confirmation. “We look forward to working with him,” said Myra Snyder, the group’s executive director. “We think a confirmed commissioner provides more stability . . . and can only improve [the agency’s] efforts, especially in the area of compliance.”

About 18 million Californians belong to health maintenance organizations, which offer lower medical premiums in exchange for restrictions on choice of doctors, hospitals and other medical services.