Insurance commissioner touts World Cup safety role and urges reinsurance support

John King, commissioner of the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance, told the Appropriations subcommittee his office is focused on life-safety and inspection duties ahead of the World Cup in Atlanta and highlighted the department’s regulatory role for buildings, elevators, escalators and crowd-related safety across supporting facilities.

King described operational surges and interagency coordination to inspect, certify and monitor large venues and said the department will enforce applicable provisions of the Georgia life safety code and related state-adopted fire and building standards for events expected to draw large crowds.

On insurance-market policy, King said his office is continuing the Georgia reinsurance program to help insurers cover high-cost enrollees and said appointment fees (raised from $20 to $25 under O.C.G.A. 33-23-11) increased departmental receipts; he said two programs returned just over $3,000,000 in state funds from higher appointment fees and enforcement fees. Commissioner King asked for continued support for the reinsurance program and discussed that the program’s required funding has shifted with anticipated claims: he referenced larger program support and then a lower funding requirement for FY26 (comments in the hearing noted both a $120,000,000 figure for program support and a later reference that the total required dropped to $25,000,000, with $82,000,000 coming from user fees).

Committee members thanked the commissioner for his work on the rate-study committee and noted reported premium reductions tied to prior reforms. King responded that the work is ongoing and that balancing affordability and carrier participation remains complex.

The subcommittee did not vote on these items; the briefing provided fiscal context for upcoming appropriations decisions.