Mike Kreidler | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 8th Insurance Commissioner of Washington | |
| Assumed office January 10, 2001 | |
| Governor | Gary Locke Christine Gregoire Jay Inslee |
| Preceded by | Deborah Senn |
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Washington's 9th district | |
| In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1995 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Randy Tate |
| Member of the Washington Senate from the 22nd district | |
| In office April 18, 1991 – January 11, 1993 | |
| Preceded by | Lela Kreidler |
| Succeeded by | Karen Fraser |
| In office January 14, 1985 – January 8, 1991 | |
| Preceded by | Dick Hemstad |
| Succeeded by | Lela Kreidler |
| Member of the Washington House of Representatives from the 22nd district | |
| In office January 10, 1977 – January 14, 1985 | |
| Preceded by | Del Bausch |
| Succeeded by | Jolene Unsoeld |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 28, 1943 Tacoma, Washington, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Lela Kreidler |
| Children | 3 |
| Education | Pacific University (BS) University of California, Los Angeles (OD, MPH) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
| Unit | United States Army Reserve |
Myron Bradford Kreidler (born September 28, 1943) is an American physician and politician serving his sixth term as the eighth Washington Insurance Commissioner. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served one term in the Congress, representing Washington's 9th congressional district.
Kreidler holds a bachelor's degree and a doctor of optometry from Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon.[1] After his US Army service as an optometry officer, he earned a master of public health degree in health administration from the UCLA School of Public Health.[2]
He was employed as an optometrist by Group Health Cooperative of the Puget Sound in the Olympia clinic for twenty years.[2] In 1973, he won a seat on the North Thurston School Board.[2] He also served in the Washington State Legislature for 16 years.[2]
Kreidler served 16 years in the Washington Legislature.[2][3] He was in the Washington House of Representatives from 1976 to 1984 and then the Washington State Senate from 1984 to 1992. He was elected to the United States Congress as a Representative from the 9th congressional district of Washington in 1992.[3][4] He was defeated by Republican Randy Tate in 1994.[3]
Following his re-election defeat to Congress in 1994, he was appointed to the Northwest Power Planning Council in 1995 by Washington Governor Mike Lowry and subsequently re-appointed by Governor Gary Locke.[5] He served on the NWPPC until 1998 when he was appointed Regional Director for the United States Department of Health and Human Services's Region 10 office in Seattle, Washington, serving in that post until 2000, when he resigned in order to seek election to the office of Washington State Insurance Commissioner.[6]
Kreidler is Washington's eighth insurance commissioner. He was first elected as insurance commissioner in 2000.[2][1] He was re-elected to a sixth term in 2020.[7] [8]
He retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Army Reserves with 20 years of service.[9]
Kreidler has focused on health reform most of his career and worked to implement the Affordable Care Act in Washington state. He was the first insurance commissioner[10] to reject President Obama's proposal to give insurers another year to sell pre-Affordable Care Act plans and testified before Congress on the law's impact on Washington state.
He has opposed efforts by the Trump administration to dismantle the Affordable Care Act,[11] including coverage for pre-existing conditions and limiting the sale of short-term medical plans.[12]
In 2019, Kreidler proposed legislation banning the practice of surprise medical billing. After several extreme cases[13] were highlighted in the news, support for his proposal increased and the bill was signed into law later that year.
Kreidler has taken action against fake health sharing ministries[14] and in 2019, he fined one company and its affiliate more than $1 million for selling sham health sharing ministry memberships in Washington state to thousands of consumers.
Since 2007, Kreidler has chaired the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' Climate Change and Global Warming Work Group. He led a successful push for insurers to disclose if and how they are preparing for the potential risks associated with climate change.[15]
In April 2022, The Seattle Times reported that several former employees or interviewed candidates for positions in the Office of the Insurance Commissioner had described racist or derogatory terms used by Kreidler from 2017 to 2022. The report also alleged that he had asked for "unusual favors" from non-white employees and that Kreidler had been "demeaning or rude" in interactions.[23] Governor Jay Inslee and the majority and minority leaders of both legislative chambers asked Kriedler to resign due to the allegations, his admittance of fault, and the firing of an aide who had been critical of Kriedler's behavior.[24] Kriedler stated in June 2022 that he would not resign;[25] on May 1, 2023, he announced that he would not run for a seventh term in the 2024 elections.[26]
Kreidler resides in Lacey, Washington with his wife, Lela. They have three grown children[2] and three grandchildren. He is a member of several professional and fraternal organizations. He retired from the United States Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel, after serving on active duty as an optometrist during the Vietnam and first Persian Gulf wars.
