Redmer

A state lawmaker is accused of unethical and illegal business practices in a lawsuit filed against him by his former employer.Del. Alfred W. Redmer Jr., a Baltimore County Republican, is accused of illegally redirecting an unspecified amount of sales commissions from his former employer, Client First Brokerage Services Inc., to his insurance company, according to court documents.In the suit, Redmer also is charged with misappropriating confidential business records -- and with using the records to lure his former employer's brokers to his new employer, the Mather Cos.In each of the four counts in the suit, Client First seeks $500,000 in damages.

Maryland Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. is to meet today with the state's U.S. representatives and senators to argue for changes in the federal flood insurance program, which has faced widespread criticism from Tropical Storm Isabel victims. With a U.S. Senate hearing on the National Flood Insurance Program set for next week, Redmer's office is also conducting a series of investigations into the way flood insurance claims were settled. Redmer would not specify the changes he proposes, and he would not comment yesterday on details of the investigations, other than to say that they should yield preliminary results in the coming week.

Pointing to deception, mismanagement and flagrant attempts to profit from the proposed sale of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Maryland Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. said yesterday that he will issue civil charges against the company and its top leaders for violating state insurance laws. Among seven major violations detailed in a 50-page report released by Redmer yesterday were allegations that CareFirst Chief Executive Williams L. Jews willfully misrepresented facts about the proposed sale of the nonprofit to WellPoint Health Networks Inc. of California.

Despite protests by victims of Tropical Storm Isabel, a Maryland Senate committee voted unanimously last night to accept the nomination of Alfred W. Redmer Jr. as state insurance commissioner. The senators on the Executive Nominations Committee questioned Redmer for more than an hour about his stance that federal law prevents him from taking aggressive action on consumers' behalf in flood insurance complaints. Although many of the senators accepted Redmer's explanation of his interpretation of the law, some took him to task for not being a more visible and forceful advocate for flood victims.

Maryland's top insurance regulator invited a hand-picked gathering of industry leaders yesterday to play an active role in streamlining laws that govern their business. "We want to reduce the cost and the burden of being regulated," state Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. told a small group of insurance representatives who met with him at a downtown Baltimore law firm that specializes in insurance clients. The meeting had been criticized by some lawmakers and groups worried about the appearance of a close relationship between Maryland's insurance chief and the companies he oversees.

After complaining for two months that the Maryland Insurance Administration should do more to help Tropical Storm Isabel victims, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. is now pushing for a change in state law that he says would force the agency to more aggressively police flood insurance carriers. At Smith's request, Sen. Norman R. Stone Jr., a Dundalk Democrat, has introduced a bill that would require the state insurance commissioner to hold flood insurance carriers to the same standards of conduct that he does for other types of coverage.

Two well-known Republicans are locked in a tight race for a shot at the open state Senate seat in the conservative-leaning 7th District. Both have State House experience and close ties to former Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., though Ehrlich is favoring one over the over. Del J.B Jennings got the nod from Ehrlich over former delegate and state Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr., as the two face off for a chance to succeed state Sen. Andrew P. Harris, who is running for Congress.

Calling Maryland's insurance commissioner "aloof" and unhelpful in his response to Tropical Storm Isabel, Baltimore County Executive James T. Smith Jr. announced yesterday an investigation of storm-related complaints about insurance companies. Speaking in front of a Millers Island house that was damaged extensively by the storm, Smith said he has heard countless stories of unresponsive insurers and of people who were misled by agents about their coverage. "The insurance industry performed miserably in the face of this crisis," Smith said.

Del. Alfred W. Redmer Jr., a sales executive with an insurance company that does $300 million in business with health care giant CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is the apparent choice to become Maryland's next insurance commissioner. If he gets the job, Redmer, the House minority leader from Perry Hall, could rule on issues affecting the finances of the state's largest health insurer and his employer, BenefitMall. Redmer said he would resign from BenefitMall and divest himself of any insurance-related holdings if Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. offers him the job of head of the Maryland Insurance Administration, a position that pays $125,236 a year.

Rebuffing partisan calls for his resignation, state Insurance Commissioner Alfred W. Redmer Jr. defended yesterday his handling of requests from insurers to pass on a recently approved 2 percent HMO tax to consumers, saying he is following the procedure established by his Democrat-appointed predecessor. "We do not set public policy, but we implement the policies and the laws sent to us by the General Assembly, and the HMO tax is one of them. The HMO tax is not something that I asked for," said Redmer, a former Republican delegate and appointee of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. "Our ultimate process is identical to that that was created by my predecessor."