California Candidates Raise Zachry Issue In Insurance Commissioner Campaign

7/31/06

Candidates for California Insurance Commissioner and California governor have called on Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi to remove Safeway Inc. Vice President and Insurance Department Insurance Fraud Commission FAC Chair William Zachry for a conflict of interest.
At a press conference on the morning of July 31, 2006 in front of the offices of the California Insurance Department offices in Sacramento, Insurance Commissioner candidate Larry Cafiero from the Green Party and Peace and Freedom Party candidate Tom Condit for Insurance Commissioner both called for the resignation or removal of William Zachry from the FAC commission that he chairs. This commission helps fund DA prosecutors and regulates the insurance industry. They stated that there was a direct conflict of interest because of his position as a vice president of Safeway Inc. for Cost Risk Management and as chair of a regulatory commission for the insurance industry.
Dina Padilla, a candidate for US Congressional District 11 who is running against Richard Pombo also attended the press conference and declared that there was also a massive cost shifting scam going on in which "insurance companies are shifting their costs to the Federal SSI, California state disability and public hospitals in California". Padilla also said that Pombo had personally received PAC money from Safeway Inc. and was helping to cover-up the cost shifting.
Also joining the press conference was the Green candidate for Governor Peter Camejo. Camejo said that politicians from both parties were accomplices in the deregulation of workers’ compensation. He supported the call for the removal of Zachry as well.
All the candidates called on all the other candidates for state offices in California to support the removal of Zachry.


http://www.votecafiero.com/pr073106.html

Cafiero for Insurance Commissioner Press Release:
July 31, 2006

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 31, 2006
Contact: Cres Vellucci, campaign media relations 916/996-9170

Attention: Political Desk

STATEMENT AT THE JULY 31, 2006, PRESS CONFERENCE
CALLING FOR THE REMOVAL OF WILLIAM ZACHRY

SACRAMENTO -- Below is the statement given by Larry Cafiero, Green Party candidate for Insurance Commissioner, at the July 31, 2006 press conference calling for the removal of William Zachry from the California Fraud Assessment Commission:

"The growing crisis in Workers' Compensation, brought to injured workers in California thanks to the bipartisan Senate Bill 899 in 2004, is now bearing a bitter fruit for injured workers, while insurance companies reap a lush harvest of increased profits.

"A primary example of how the state systematically ignores the plight of injured workers is in the actions of the California Fraud Assessment Commission, under the leadership of a corporate executive who oversees the insurance needs of his self-insured corporation.

"This executive, William Zachry of Safeway, heads the California Fraud Assessment Commission. The commission under Zachry repeatedly has displayed favoritism to insurance companies and employers over injured workers, to the point where even his own employer, Safeway, has benefited from the commission's decisions.

"This conflict of interest is unacceptable at any level in the Department of Insurance, and must not be tolerated either by this administration or by the next Insurance Commissioner.

"As the Insurance Commissioner candidate for the Green Party, I call for the current Insurance Commissioner to remove William Zachry from the California Fraud Assessment Commission.

"Further, I call on the candidates of the Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Peace & Freedom, and American Independent parties to join me in this call for removal."



7/31/2006 Monday
11:00 AM
Press Conference
12:00 Noon Picket
California Department of Insurance offices
300 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA



Press Conference and Picket To Remove
State Insurance Commission Fraud Assessment Commission Chair William Zachry

Initiated by
California Coalition For Workers Memorial Day http://www.workersmemorialday.com
Californians Injured At Work http://www.ciaw.org
Voices CA Chapter, B.E.S.T <blndi26 [at] cs.com>
http://www.barbclark.com Nurse Practitioner Barb Clark
http://www.myscifstory.com Larry Nign



Injured workers and California candidates for office will be calling for the
removal of California Fraud Assessment Commission chair William Zachry.
Zachry who is responsible for helping to regulate the insurance industry and
dispensing over $22 million dollars to California District Attorney's
offices for prosecution of insurance fraud is also an executive vice
president for the self insured Safeway Inc.
He was challenged at a recent FAC hearing by injured Safeway workers who
charged that he and Safeway Inc. had refused to provide need medical and
drug costs even though these workers had been injured on the job at Safeway
Inc.

The growing crisis in Workers Comp has reached emergency proportions. On
June 29, 2006 at the Commission of Health And Safety and Workers
Compensation, Diane Przepiorski, Executive Director testified that some
California groups of Surgeons were considering pulling out entirely in
treating injured workers as a result of the implementation of the ACOEM
guidelines that were implemented by SB 899. William Zachry was one of the
authors and insurance executives directly responsible for SB 899 and
received an award from the insurance industry for helping to institute the so
called "insurance reforms".

The press conference will provide direct information about the conflict of
interest between William Zachry in his position as chair of FAC and also State Criminal Investigators under William Zachry who have publicly told injured workers that they will not
prosecute fraud by insurance companies despite the legal requirement that
they enforce all laws.

Green Insurance commissioner candidate Mike Cafiero will also be attending and urging that all candidates for California State Insurance Commissioner support the removal of William Zachry as chair of the FAC.

Additional links include:
http://www.zoominfo.com/directory/Zachry_William_382583358.htm
http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/west/2005/04/18/53877.htm
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/03/29/MNGK75SR7H1.DTL

For press please contact
(415)867-0628