I'm very pleased to report that my team and I announced yesterday that in 2011 we were able to recover $42 million for individuals, families and businesses of North Carolina! This is just part of the more than $1 BILLION my service as NC Insurance Commissioner has saved consumers since 2008.

Several months ago I penned - typed? - an entry entitled "Good News When It's Rare". In the news these days, particularly with election season bringing out some of the worst in various folks, good news is often overshadowed or crowded out.

Well, in case you missed it somehow, some of the best news in a long time happened last week and it involved historic insurance refunds I announced totalling $155.8 million for 215,000+ policyholders, savings of an additional $14 million on premiums, cutting of filed rates for certain health insurance policies, and a special visit I made to the White House.

And kudos as well to BCBSNC CEO Brad Wilson for his leadership and partnership, as well as to my agency technical experts, in making this success come about.

Fighting insurance crime doesn't require a cape and secret identity in North Carolina.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin and his stellar team of sworn law enforcement officers in the Department of Insurance have cracked down on insurance fraud with a vengeance.

Note the reports linked here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. This is merely a representative sample from the last two months.

These results are not surprising in light of both the rise in insurance fraud during economic downturns such as now and the lengthy history of fraud fighting that North Carolina's insurance regulator has had over the years: Goodwin's Criminal Investigations Division is the oldest of its kind in the nation, and celebrates 65 years of service this year.

To date in 2010, Goodwin and his expert criminal investigators have seen more than 165 cases successfully closed with more than $5.8 million in restitution and recoveries, 40 criminal convictions and more than 65 arrests. Last year Goodwin's administration recovered approximately $10.2 million in restitution for North Carolina families and businesses.

I invite your comments to this Charlotte Observer editorial. (In the interest of full disclosure, I presently serve as President of the NC Center for Voter Education.) I am bothered by the hypocrisy of those who decry judicial activism when one ideology has a majority on the U.S. Supreme Court versus when the ratio is flipped.