My Priorities

To bring transparency, accountability, and advocacy back to the Insurance Department, we need a bold and strategic plan. Here are my top priorities when I’m elected the next North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance.

My Priorities

To bring transparency, accountability, and advocacy back to the Insurance Department, we need a bold and strategic plan. Here’s how I’ll to reclaim our insurance system for the people.

1. End the Excessive Rate Hikes

The incumbent Insurance Commissioner has repeatedly allowed insurance companies to raise rates, allowing them to collect excessive profits on the backs of North Carolinians. He’s approved 16 rate hikes in a row without holding a single public hearing — no data to justify the increases, no testimony under oath, and no cross-examination. Instead, the incumbent Commissioner meets with insurers behind closed doors, only to emerge with yet another rate increase. As Commissioner of Insurance, I'll end the rate racket and restore transparency and accountability to the process.

    • Require insurance companies to justify their rate increase requests with evidence, under oath, subject to cross examination in public hearings.

    • Reject unjustified rate hikes and keep rates from rising one penny more than necessary to maintain a vibrant marketplace of affordable insurance options for North Carolinians.

    • Balance reasonable profits for insurance companies with fair rates for North Carolinians to foster a vibrant marketplace.

    • Enhance accountability by utilizing the actuaries and other expert staff at the Department of Insurance to analyze insurance company profits and hold rates low for consumers.

    • Recruit additional insurance companies to offer policies in our state; drive down costs through market competition.

    • Work with local fire departments to bolster fire safety readiness, improve ISO ratings, invest grant funds, and lower home insurance prices.

    • Provide accessible information about rate changes to the public.

    • Avoid conflicts of interest by refusing campaign contributions from the very insurance companies that the Commissioner is supposed to be regulating.

2. Focus on Fair Coverage

One of the main obligations of the elected Commissioner of Insurance is to advocate for North Carolina policyholders to get the benefits they pay for and to have their claims paid fairly. The incumbent Commissioner has neglected this duty, starving the Consumer Services Division at the Department of Insurance of staff and resources. As a result, North Carolinians are not getting the support they deserve. I will re-prioritize the people of North Carolina.

    • Publish and make accessible claim ratios, consent to rate data, and average rate data so consumers can compare how insurance companies handle claims, see if they’re charging excessive rates, and track rate changes in their county.

    • Reprioritize the Consumer Services division at the Department of Insurance and reopen critical regional offices in accessible locations, appointing qualified staff to prioritize consumer services.

    • Reduce prescription costs by reforming Pharmacy Benefits Managers and expansion of the 340B drug pricing program to avoid monopoly style pricing, which hurts patients and drives independent pharmacies out of business.

    • Protect senior citizens by strengthening the Seniors Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP) for Medicare and long-term care options, crack down on companies that prey on seniors in violation of the solicitation rules and regulations in conjunction with the Attorney General, and improve oversight of Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) to ensure their solvency and availability. 

    • Protect children by strengthening the Safe Kids NC Program in conjunction with the Office of State Fire Marshal to prevent child injuries.

    • Protect women’s health by requiring coverage of supplemental breast cancer screenings, including MRIs and ultrasounds, continuing my fight for this policy.

    • Protect automobile owners by addressing insurance companies’ systemic denials of umpires’ valuations on diminished value post-repair; ensure consumers get quality replacement parts and fair value for their vehicles; collect and analyze relevant data to protect consumers; regulate auto appraisers and enforce consumer protections.

    • Investigate patterns of claim denials to ensure that insurance companies are operating fairly, not denying claims based on discrimination or as part of a pattern of unfair refusals to discourage claims.

    • Re-establish Agents Advisory Committees to share information in a two-way dialogue between the Department of Insurance and North Carolina insurance agents about consumers’ needs, agents’ concerns, and market trends, and to partner with them to educate consumers at Town Hall meetings across the State. Advisor Agents should be volunteers with experience in Property & Casualty and in Life & Health Agents, both captive and independent agents.

    • Establish a Consumers Advisory Committee to hear from consumers about where protections are needed for the public.

3. Strengthen Our Communities Against Natural Disasters

North Carolinians deserve peace of mind from strengthening storms and the damages they cause. The current Commissioner lacks vision or proven action on the critical need to protect North Carolina’s communities and economy. The challenges we face— rising sea level, more frequent storms, chronic flooding—are already impacting our state, from the coast to the mountains. I am committed to addressing these issues, which lead to greater property damage, costly insurance claims, and rising insurance premiums.

    • Ensure the availability and solvency of the Coastal Property Insurance Pool (Beach Plan) and the Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR Plan) as the insurers of last resort for high-risk or difficult to insure properties.

    • Expand the FORTIFIED roof program to mitigate wind and storm damage, lower insurance claims, and give consumers a rebate on their insurance bill in coastal areas.

    • Expand Flood Mitigation Grants and the Strategic Buyout Program to reduce risks in flood-prone areas.

    • Increase consumers’ insurance options by encouraging more insurance companies to write policies in NC; avoid the problem of dropped customers by fostering a vibrant marketplace of insurance options in NC; partner with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and the NC Department of Commerce to recruit additional carriers to our state.

    • Advocate to consider scientific estimates of sea level rise when setting coastal policy so we can plan wisely and mitigate damages.

    • Modernize building codes so we build more energy-efficient, storm-resistant homes, qualify for FEMA recovery funds, and lower the cost of home insurance.

    • Use the Commissioner’s power to appoint a member of the Coastal Resources Commission who is committed to addressing climate-related issues (not a political donor with a conflict of interest).

    • Identify flood prone areas from the mountains to the coast and connect those homeowners with flood insurance and difference in conditions policies as needed to protect from mudslides.

    • Support investments in renewable energy, pollution reduction, and land conservation such as Governor Cooper’s Executive Order 305, EO271, and EO246. 

    • Protect North Carolina's 2.5 million acres of wetlands, which are vital in storing carbon, protecting against flooding, filtering water pollutants, and providing habitats, but are now vulnerable due to recent changes in permitting laws.

    • Oppose dangerous national plans that threaten environmental protections and would eliminate the National Flood Insurance Plan.

4. Close Loopholes That Let Insurance Companies Overcharge

The "Consent to Rate" (CTR) loophole allows insurance companies to charge policyholders up to 250% over the maximum rate. While intended to be used only in rare cases, insurance companies have used CTR so much in the past ten years that it now affects almost half of homeowners in North Carolina and an unknown number of auto policyholders, leading to significantly higher premiums. Despite this widespread abuse, the current Insurance Commissioner supports the loophole and worked to expand it. I authored SB882, Insurance Consumer Protection Study, to investigate and protect consumers from CTR overuse. As your Insurance Commissioner, I will ensure fair rates and help consumers avoid excessive CTR charges.

Click here to hear from Natasha directly about Consent to Rate.


  • The “Consent to Rate” (CTR) loophole was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly to allow insurance companies to charge consumers more than the maximum rate for policies on unique and high-risk property. CTR was supposed to be used in rare cases and, in most states, that is the case. However, in North Carolina where CTR is liberally permitted, insurance companies have taken advantage to such an extent that it is almost the norm. Now, 40-60% of home and auto policy holders in North Carolina are paying significantly higher than the maximum rate approved by the Commissioner of Insurance. 

    Overuse of CTR hurts consumers and allows insurance companies to profit at our expense. Insurance company profits in NC are significantly higher than the average, in large part due to their overuse of CTR.

    The current Commissioner of Insurance bragged about giving insurance companies more leeway to use CTR to raise rates and increase their profits. By contrast, Senator Natasha Marus wrote and filed SB882, Insurance Consumer Protection Study, to protect North Carolina consumers and investigate insurance companies’ overuse of the CTR loophole. We need an Insurance Commissioner who will not allow insurers to make excessive profits in North Carolina to offset their losses in other states. I will be a Commissioner of Insurance who helps consumers avoid paying CTR excessive rates and find better alternatives when they are hit by CTR notices.

5. Provide Affordable, Quality Health Insurance

North Carolina’s healthcare costs are the highest in the nation, leaving too many families struggling to afford the care they need. As your Insurance Commissioner, I will fight to bring down prescription drug prices, ensure seniors can access affordable long-term care, and push back against healthcare monopolies that drive up costs. I will stand up to insurance companies that put profits over patients and work to make healthcare more comprehensive, accessible, affordable, and fair for all North Carolinians.

    • Reduce prescription costs by reforming Pharmacy Benefits Managers (PBMs) practices and the 340B drug pricing program to avoid monopoly style pricing, which hurts patients and drives independent pharmacies out of business. 

    • Prepare for NC’s aging population and the care they will need by regulating price increases in long-term care insurance and by reinvigorating the SHIIP program so seniors and their caretakers understand their Medicare options.

    • Discourage healthcare provider monopolies that drive up costs for patients.

    • Protect women’s health by requiring coverage of supplemental breast cancer screenings, including MRIs and ultrasounds, continuing my fight for this policy.

    • Regulate healthcare insurers to ensure policies are comprehensive, insurers are solvent, and claims are paid fairly.

    • Oppose burdensome insurance company rules and practices that override physicians’ judgment and/or require alternate therapies resulting in delays, refusal of critical treatment and/or adverse effects; increase transparency and efficiency in the prior authorization process; meet regularly and partner with healthcare professionals and their associations to combat insurance company denials and strong-arm tactics.

    • Lower the cost of healthcare and insurance by advocating for Medicaid Expansion, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare, Cost of Living Adjustments and Social Security benefits, and by recruiting more health insurance companies to write policies in our state; work with the NCIOM, NCDHHS and other stakeholders to reduce the uninsured population; ensure North Carolinans get the care and coverage they need; reduce the cost of uncompensated care so it is not shifted onto others through higher premiums.

    • Oppose dangerous national plans to repeal the drug price reforms in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which could increase prescription drug prices for nearly 700,000 North Carolinians including seniors on Medicare.

6. Crack Down on Insurance Fraud

Fraud in the insurance system costs consumers $308.6 billion annually, with an estimated ten percent of your insurance bill going to cover fraudulent claims. The Commissioner of Insurance should investigate and uncover small and large-scale fraud, in order to save honest policy holders their hard-earned money. As your next Commissioner of Insurance, I will tackle insurance fraud across our state.

    • Ensure employers do not evade workers' compensation obligations by misclassifying workers. This practice cheats workers of the protections they deserve and unfairly disadvantages rule-abiding businesses.

    • Advocate for greater coordination between the Industrial Commission and the Department of Insurance to tackle this issue and reinstate the Blue Ribbon Task Force to investigate and develop strategies to address worker misclassification.

    • Use the Department’s sworn, state law enforcement officers to investigate systemic unfairness and large-scale fraud in the insurance system, not just the small potatoes cases, but the more significant, costly cases that the current Commissioner has ignored.

    • Ensure that when employers withhold healthcare premiums for employees they are properly applied to cover those employees.

7. Pledge of Integrity

North Carolinians deserve an Insurance Commissioner who puts their interests first - that’s why this is an elected position. But the incumbent Commissioner Mike Causey operates under a cloud of conflicting loyalties and political motivations. His close ties to industry insiders and prioritization of companies over consumers have eroded trust in the office. As Commissioner of Insurance, I will restore integrity by making transparent decisions, free from conflicts of interest, and always with the goal of protecting North Carolina families.

  • Here’s my promise to you:

    • No campaign money from Insurance Industry PACs.

    • No cushy, "make work” jobs for buddies and political allies.

    • No personal trips on the taxpayer’s bill.

    • Work for the people of North Carolina, not the insurance companies.