The Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner was created in 1889–90, and became a separate agency in 1907 with an elected commissioner.
[1] The current commissioner is Patty Kuderer, a Democrat first elected in 2024 and assumed office in 2025.
In 2014, a bill was introduced to replace the elected commissioner with a 10-person board which would hire the commissioner.
[2] It was passed in both houses but vetoed by Governor Jay Inslee.
[3] In 2015, the office denied applications by a number of association health plans, resulting in a legal dispute with those affected.