Mulready Minutes

Ep 21: OID and ODEMHS - Coming together before, during and after the storm

In this episode Commissioner Mulready visits with Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (ODEMHS) Director Mark Gower. Discussion includes how OID and ODEMHS help Oklahomans before, during and after a disaster. 

Mark Gower was named as Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security (ODEMHS) Director in 2019 by Governor Kevin Stitt.  He served as the Chief Information Security Officer and CyberCommand Director for the State of Oklahoma.  With over 20-years of experience in Information Security and Technology, Gower has a broad and varied knowledge base to draw upon.

Bonus Episode: Why Oklahoma is a leading voice for Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) regulation

Bonus Episode – In this bonus episode, Commissioner Mulready gives a recap of his testimony in front of the House Ways and Means Committee’s Health Subcommittee Hearing entitled  “Why Health Care is Unaffordable: Anticompetitive and Consolidated Markets.” Last week, Commissioner Mulready went to the nation’s capitol to share Oklahoma’s story on developing one of the strongest Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) compliance programs in the country. Since 2021, Oklahoma has built a robust regulatory program that has issued over $3.5 million in fines and returned over $700,000 to local independent pharmacies through administrative action and settlement agreements.

Ep 20: Getting Ready to Unwind Medicaid’s Continuous Coverage Requirement

Episode 20 – In this episode Commissioner Mulready visits with Cabinet Secretary Kevin Corbett. Discussion includes how Oklahoma is Getting Ready to Unwind Medicaid’s Continuous Coverage Requirement affecting 300,000 Oklahomans. When you get notice from SoonerCare that you or family members are no longer eligible for coverage, you have other ways to obtain health coverage in Oklahoma.

Cabinet Secretary for Health and Mental Health, Kevin Corbett was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Oklahoma Health Care Authority (OHCA), Oklahoma’s Medicaid agency in 2019.  Most recently, Corbett was appointed to serve as the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Mental Health in 2020.

Ep 19: Senate Retirement and Insurance Committee, House Insurance Committee

Episode 19 – As the 2023 legislative session fast approaches, Commissioner Mulready speaks with Senator John Michael Montgomery (Chair of Senate Retirement and Insurance Committee) and Ashley Scott, Government and Community Affairs Director with the Oklahoma Insurance Department. Topics include what the Senate and House Insurance Committee is tasked to do and what’s coming for the 59th Legislature regarding Insurance legislation.

Senator John Michael Montgomery was born and raised in Lawton and graduated from Eisenhower High School. He began college at Cameron University before transferring to the University of Oklahoma and completed a B.A. in International Studies. Montgomery finished work at OU for his M.A. in Global Affairs in summer 2019. Montgomery works in the financial services industry and is the founder of his own investment advisory firm, Invictus Investment Advisors, established in 2019.

Prior to election to the Senate in 2018, Montgomery served four years in the House beginning in 2014. Montgomery currently serves in the Senate as the Chair for the Retirement and Insurance Committee and the Vice Chair for the Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services.

Ep 18: OID Community Outreach

Commissioner Mulready visits with new team member Liana Bortoto, who recently joined OID as the new Community Outreach Coordinator.  The discussion will include the plan to expand outreach and education to the underserved communities in Oklahoma.

Liana Bortoto - Liana is the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Oklahoma Insurance Department. She started her career with the state working for over seven years as a Communications Specialist for the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education before joining OID. In her role, Liana connects with underserved populations assuring the education of all forms of insurance. She started a networking process to build relationships and is looking forward to expanding outreach and education throughout Oklahoma.

Ep 17: OID Captive Insurance Division

Episode 17 – Commissioner Mulready sits down and talks to Steve Kinion who joined OID as the new Captive Director. Steve is a recognized leader and effective advocate of the booming insurance sector.  His extensive knowledge and experience with captive insurance and insurance law and regulation will ensure that Oklahoma stays an extremely competitive jurisdiction. 

Steve Kinion - Kinion was Delaware’s captive regulator for more than 13 years before joining the Oklahoma Insurance Department. He originally joined OID in 1995 as counsel to the Oklahoma state board for property and casualty rates and assistant general counsel. Captive Review magazine has named him multiple times to its global “Power 50” listing the 50 most influential figures in the global captive insurance industry. He holds the Associate in Captive Insurance (ACI) designation which is the highest professional designation for captive insurance. 

Ep 16: Oklahoma Captive Insurance Association

Episode 16: Commissioner Mulready visits with Jerry Messick, Founding Member and Founding President of the Oklahoma Captive Insurance Association and CEO, Elevate Risk Solutions about the new association.

Jerry Messick has over 38 years’ experience in the insurance and alternative risk transfer industry and is the principal and CEO for Elevate Risk Solutions.  

Prior to becoming CEO of Elevate, Jerry was with a national provider of alternative risk services since 1985. He was heavily involved with updating the legislation in Oklahoma governing captives.  In his position with Elevate, he is an approved captive and traditional insurance company manager in multiple jurisdictions, both onshore and off. 

Ep 15: ACA Marketplace 2023

Commissioner Mulready visits with Melissa Parchman with Magoon & Associates about what to expect during open enrollment in the ACA Marketplace for 2023.

Melissa Parchman, CEO and Owner of Magoon and Associates is a native Oklahoman who has been a licensed insurance broker for more than 30 years.  She began her career in Tulsa at Bayle Martin and Fay.  In her eight years with that firm, Melissa was promoted to VP of Individual Market. In 1991 she went to Magoon & Associates and in 2012 she purchased the company.

Melissa is an active member of both the National Association of Health Underwriter and Tulsa Association of Health Underwriters. As an active member, she has lobbied in Washington for Healthcare Reform.

Married for 42 years, Melissa and her husband have four boys and live in Jenks.

Ep: 14 Small Business Growth, Entrepreneurship, and Workforce Development in Oklahoma

Episode 14 – Commissioner Mulready welcomes Lt. Governor, Matt Pinnell, to discuss small business growth, entrepreneurship, and workforce development in Oklahoma. What are we doing to draw more businesses to Oklahoma?

Matt Pinnell - Matt was elected as the 17th Lieutenant Governor of the State of Oklahoma on November 6th, 2018.  In that role, he serves as President of the Oklahoma State Senate and is a member of multiple constitutional boards and commissions. Lt. Governor Pinnell also serves as Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage on Governor Kevin Stitt’s cabinet.

In his role as Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage, Pinnell oversees the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation and the state’s efforts to promote tourism, the third largest industry in Oklahoma. Pinnell led the successful effort to rebrand the State of Oklahoma, a component of the overall effort to retain and recruit more jobs to the state of Oklahoma.

Pinnell also currently serves on the Department of Commerce executive committee focusing on small business growth, entrepreneurship, and workforce development. Pinnell has a background in entrepreneurship and is a small business owner with his wife, Lisa, who is an inventor and entrepreneur.

Matt is a graduate of Oral Roberts University with a degree in Advertising and lives in Tulsa with his wife and their four children.

Ep. 13: When It Rains, It Floods

Episode 13 – In this episode Commissioner Mulready visits with Jonathan Phillips. Discussion includes how the NFIP benefits the people of Oklahoma and data supporting the need for flood insurance.

Jonathan Phillips - Jon is the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) coordinator for Oklahoma. He began his service to the state in 2010 with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board’s Dam Safety section but since 2017 has been in Floodplain Management.