Longtime consumer advocate Birny Birnbaum to retire from NAIC duties

Consumer advocate David "Birny" Birnbaum is at times a pain the neck for NAIC regulators who face his relentless questions and criticism.

But they will miss him, said Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. Birnbaum, a longtime National Association of Insurance Commissioners-sponsored consumer liaison, is retiring from those duties.

"Despite our disagreement at times on issues, his commitment to consumers is beyond question," Donelon said Sunday during a meeting of the Life Insurance and Annuities Committee. "And his service to us is something I personally have appreciated greatly. Thank you, Birny and best wishes."

Birnbaum has a master of science in management and a master of city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His career took off when he was named chief economist at the newly created Office of Public Insurance Council under progressive Texas Gov. Ann Richards in 1991.

In late 1993, Birnbaum joined the reorganized and renamed Texas Department of Insurance as chief economist and associate commissioner for policy and research. He advised the commissioner on insurance issues.

Named NAIC coordinator

Birnbaum served as the NAIC coordinator for the Texas Department of Insurance, which gave him an intimate familiarity with the inner workings of the organization. Some years later, Birnbaum switched to the consumer side and joined the Center for Economic Justice.

InsuranceNewsNet Magazine did a profile of Birnbaum in the November 2019 issue. During an interview, Birnbaum talked about becoming a consumer advocate and the challenges it entailed.

“I don’t have nearly the success in getting consumer-friendly outcomes as I’d like,” he said. “I think that regulators sort of listen to what I say, but the fact of the matter is that the insurance industry just has a lot more influence. And that influence comes from a lot of places.”

Established in 1992, the NAIC Consumer Liaison Program "promotes consumer interaction with the NAIC's members, the insurance industry, and interested parties through individual consumer representatives’ dedication and commitment to serving the public interest," the association said.

In 2023, the association named 24 funded and 17 unfunded consumer representatives. None are more visible than Birnbaum, a funded liaison. His focus areas are primarily life insurance and annuities, and proxy discrimination caused by artificial intelligence and big data mining.

Birnbaum vowed to remain active researching and fighting for consumer issues.

InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.

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InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton has covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.