ReachMD

Commissioner Sandy Praeger was elected as Kansas' 24th Commissioner of Insurance on November 2, 2002. She was reelected on November 7, 2006. Commissioner Praeger is responsible for regulating all insurance sold in Kansas and overseeing the nearly 1,700 insurance companies and 85,000 agents licensed to do business in the state. She is served in 2008 as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). An active member in NAIC, Commissioner Praeger is also chair of the EX-1 Subcommittee for Internal Administration and chair of the Government Relations Leadership Council.

She was elected previously to the Kansas Senate in 1992, 1996 and 2000, and before that served one term in the Kansas House of Representatives. While in the legislature, she worked to gain passage of patient protection laws, external review of health plans and insurance, and the Kansas expansion of children's health insurance. In 2001 she led the successful campaign for mental health parity in Kansas. Commissioner Praeger has been a speaker before numerous national organizations, including the American Association of Health Plans; the National Conference of State Legislatures; The Forum for State Health Policy Leadership; the National Association of Chain Drug Stores; the American Academy of Pediatrics; Women in Government; and the National Association of Health Data Organizations.