Gov. DeSantis appoints Michael Yaworsky to lead Office of Insurance Regulation

Meet the new boss. Image via Florida Gaming Control Commission.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has been leaderless since the beginning of 2023. No more.

Gov. Ron DeSantis named Michael Yaworsky, Vice Chair of the Florida Gaming Control Commission, to serve as the new OIR Commissioner.

DeSantis’s office announced the appointment Friday afternoon. Yaworsky will hold the position in an interim capacity until the Financial Services Commission approves him for the job.

Yaworsky is no stranger to the OIR. From 2017 to 2022, he worked as Chief of Staff to former OIR Commissioner David Altmaier, who resigned in late December.

He’s held a host of other jobs in state government, including stints in the Governor’s Office under Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist as well as another Chief of Staff post in the Department of Business and Professional Regulations.

He also worked for the Sunshine State’s closest neighbor, serving legal counsel to the Georgia Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commission and in the Georgia Senate Pro Tempore’s office from January 2014 to February 2022.

A lawyer by training with a law degree from Florida State University, Yaworsky was one of three people DeSantis named to the Gaming Control Commission in December 2021.

Altmaier, who has yet to publicly announce his future plans, spoke highly of Yaworsky upon his appointment as OIG Chief of Staff in 2019 by U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, then the Governor.

“Mr. Yaworsky has a wide range of experience serving in state government positions both in Florida and Georgia,” Altmaier said in a statement. “This public service background combined with his exceptional leadership abilities will be a tremendous asset to the Office. I look forward to his counsel.”

Yaworsky comes to his new role during a period of policy transition. In December, DeSantis signed a sweeping property insurance bill meant to stabilize a tumultuous market while reducing avenues by which claimants can seek recompense.

DeSantis said the bill’s “historic reforms … create an environment which realigns Florida to best practices across the nation, adding much-needed stability to Florida’s market, promoting competition and choice.”

The bill, which the Legislature passed along party lines, drew rebuffs from Democrats whose recommended changes went largely ignored.

On its website, the OIR’s mission statement reads, “To promote a stable and competitive insurance market for consumers.”