Last reviewed: July 2026 Source: NAIC 2026 Membership List (revised April 2026) and state department websites
Every U.S. state, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories maintain an insurance department that licenses insurance companies, enforces state insurance law, and handles consumer complaints. If your health insurer has denied a claim, cancelled your policy, delayed payment, or you believe you’ve been treated unfairly, your state insurance department is usually the place to start.
Usually — but not always. Read the next section first. It will save you weeks.
Before You Call: Is Your State Department Even the Right Place?
This is the single most common mistake people make, and it costs them time they often don’t have.
| Your coverage | Who regulates it | Where to complain |
|---|---|---|
| Plan bought on your own (marketplace or direct from insurer) | Your state | ✅ State insurance department (below) |
| Small-employer plan (usually fully insured) | Your state | ✅ State insurance department (below) |
| Large-employer plan that is self-funded — the employer pays claims, the insurer only administers them | Federal (ERISA) | ❌ Not your state. → U.S. Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration: 1-866-444-3272 / askebsa.dol.gov |
| Medicare / Medicare Advantage / Part D | Federal (CMS) | ❌ Not your state. → 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227), or your free State Health Insurance Assistance Program (SHIP) at shiphelp.org |
| Medicaid / CHIP | State Medicaid agency | ❌ Not the insurance department. → Your state Medicaid office |
| TRICARE / VA | Federal | ❌ → TRICARE or VA directly |
| Marketplace enrollment or subsidy problems | Federal | → HealthCare.gov: 1-800-318-2596 |
How to tell if your employer plan is self-funded: ask HR directly — “Is our health plan fully insured or self-funded?” They’re required to tell you. Or check your Summary Plan Description. Roughly two-thirds of covered workers in the U.S. are in self-funded plans, so this is not an edge case.
What Your State Insurance Department Can Actually Do
They can:
- Investigate whether your insurer broke state insurance law or the terms of your policy
- Force a company to respond to you
- Overturn improper claim denials
- Fine or sanction an insurer or agent
- Confirm whether a company or agent is licensed in your state
- Tell you your rights to appeal and to an independent external review
They generally cannot:
- Decide whether a treatment is medically necessary (that’s the external review process — but the department can point you to it and enforce your right to it)
- Act as your lawyer, or award you damages for pain and suffering
- Resolve billing disputes with your doctor or hospital (that’s a provider dispute, not an insurance one)
- Help with self-funded, Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE plans (see the table above)
Your Health Claim Was Denied. Do This, In Order.
- Get the denial in writing. The insurer must give you a written explanation and a reason. Don’t accept “it was denied” over the phone.
- Read the reason carefully. A large share of denials are administrative — a coding error, a missing pre-authorization, an out-of-network mix-up — not medical judgment. These are often fixed with one phone call.
- File an internal appeal with the insurer. You generally have 180 days from the denial notice. Put it in writing. Keep copies of everything.
- Request an external review. If the internal appeal fails, most plans must allow an independent third-party review, and the insurer is bound by the result. You typically have 4 months from the final internal denial. Expedited review is available if your health is in immediate jeopardy.
- Complain to your state insurance department — from the list below. Most now accept complaints through an online portal, which is faster than mail.
- Ask your doctor to help. A letter of medical necessity from the treating physician is frequently the thing that turns a denial around.
Keep a log. Every call: date, time, who you spoke to, what they said, and a reference number. Departments and reviewers take documented complaints far more seriously than recollections.
Directory: All 56 U.S. Insurance Departments (2026)
Toll-free numbers marked (in-state) work only from inside that state; use the main number if you’re calling from elsewhere.
| State / Territory | Department | Main Phone | Toll-Free / Consumer | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Alabama Department of Insurance | 334-269-3550 | 800-433-3966 (in-state) | aldoi.gov |
| Alaska | Alaska Division of Insurance | 907-269-7900 | 800-467-8725 (in-state) | insurance.alaska.gov |
| American Samoa | Insurance Commissioner’s Office | 684-699-4626 ext. 8110 | — | americansamoa.gov/insurance |
| Arizona | Dept. of Insurance and Financial Institutions | 602-364-3100 | — | difi.az.gov |
| Arkansas | Arkansas Insurance Department | 501-371-2600 | 800-282-9134 | insurance.arkansas.gov |
| California | California Department of Insurance | 916-492-3500 | 800-927-4357 (in-state) · 213-897-8921 (out-of-state) | insurance.ca.gov |
| Colorado | Colorado Division of Insurance | 303-894-7499 | 800-930-3745 | doi.colorado.gov |
| Connecticut | Connecticut Insurance Department | 860-297-3800 | 800-203-3447 | ct.gov/cid |
| Delaware | Delaware Department of Insurance | 302-674-7300 | 800-282-8611 | insurance.delaware.gov |
| District of Columbia | Dept. of Insurance, Securities, and Banking | 202-727-8000 | — | disb.dc.gov |
| Florida | Office of Insurance Regulation | 850-413-3140 | 877-693-5236 (in-state) · 850-413-3089 (out-of-state helpline) | floir.com · myfloridacfo.com |
| Georgia | Office of Insurance and Safety Fire Commissioner | 404-656-2070 | 800-656-2298 | oci.ga.gov |
| Guam | Dept. of Revenue and Taxation, Regulatory Division | 671-635-1816 | — | guamtax.com |
| Hawaii | Hawaii Insurance Division | 808-586-2790 | — | cca.hawaii.gov/ins |
| Idaho | Idaho Department of Insurance | 208-334-4250 | 800-721-3272 (in-state) | doi.idaho.gov |
| Illinois | Illinois Department of Insurance | 217-782-4515 | Chicago: 312-814-2420 | insurance.illinois.gov |
| Indiana | Indiana Department of Insurance | 317-232-2385 | 800-622-4661 (in-state) | in.gov/idoi |
| Iowa | Iowa Insurance Division | 515-654-6600 | 877-955-1212 (in-state) | iid.iowa.gov |
| Kansas | Kansas Department of Insurance | 785-296-3071 | 800-432-2484 (in-state) | insurance.kansas.gov |
| Kentucky | Kentucky Department of Insurance | 502-564-3630 | 800-595-6053 (in-state) | insurance.ky.gov |
| Louisiana | Louisiana Department of Insurance | 225-342-5900 | 800-259-5300 | ldi.la.gov |
| Maine | Maine Bureau of Insurance | 207-624-8475 | 800-300-5000 | maine.gov/pfr/insurance |
| Maryland | Maryland Insurance Administration | 410-468-2000 | 800-492-6116 | insurance.maryland.gov |
| Massachusetts | Massachusetts Division of Insurance | 617-521-7794 | 877-563-4467 | mass.gov/orgs/division-of-insurance |
| Michigan | Dept. of Insurance and Financial Services (DIFS) | 517-284-8800 | 877-999-6442 | michigan.gov/difs |
| Minnesota | Minnesota Department of Commerce | 651-539-1500 | Complaints: 651-539-1600 | mn.gov/commerce |
| Mississippi | Mississippi Insurance Department | 601-359-3569 | 800-562-2957 (in-state) | mid.ms.gov |
| Missouri | Dept. of Commerce and Insurance | 573-751-4126 | 800-726-7390 | insurance.mo.gov |
| Montana | Office of the Commissioner of Securities and Insurance | 406-444-2040 | 800-332-6148 (in-state) | csimt.gov |
| Nebraska | Nebraska Department of Insurance | 402-471-2201 | 877-564-7323 (in-state) | doi.nebraska.gov |
| Nevada | Nevada Division of Insurance | 775-687-0700 | 888-872-3234 (in-state) | doi.nv.gov |
| New Hampshire | New Hampshire Insurance Department | 603-271-2261 | 800-852-3416 | nh.gov/insurance |
| New Jersey | Dept. of Banking and Insurance | 609-292-7272 | 800-446-7467 | dobi.nj.gov |
| New Mexico | Office of Superintendent of Insurance | 505-827-4601 | 855-427-5674 (in-state) | osi.state.nm.us |
| New York | Department of Financial Services (DFS) | 212-709-3500 | 800-342-3736 | dfs.ny.gov |
| North Carolina | North Carolina Department of Insurance | 919-807-6000 | 855-408-1212 | ncdoi.gov |
| North Dakota | Insurance and Securities Department | 701-328-2440 | 800-247-0560 (in-state) | insurance.nd.gov |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Office of the Insurance Commissioner | 670-664-3000 | — | commerce.gov.mp |
| Ohio | Ohio Department of Insurance | 614-644-2658 | 800-686-1526 | insurance.ohio.gov |
| Oklahoma | Oklahoma Insurance Department | 405-521-2828 | 800-522-0071 | oid.ok.gov |
| Oregon | Division of Financial Regulation | 503-947-7980 | 888-877-4894 | dfr.oregon.gov |
| Pennsylvania | Pennsylvania Insurance Department | 717-787-7000 | 877-881-6388 (in-state) | insurance.pa.gov |
| Puerto Rico | Office of the Commissioner of Insurance | 787-304-8686 | — | ocs.pr.gov |
| Rhode Island | Rhode Island Division of Insurance | 401-462-9520 | — | dbr.ri.gov |
| South Carolina | South Carolina Department of Insurance | 803-737-6160 | — | doi.sc.gov |
| South Dakota | South Dakota Division of Insurance | 605-773-3563 | — | dlr.sd.gov/insurance |
| Tennessee | Dept. of Commerce and Insurance | 615-741-2241 | 800-342-4029 (in-state) | tn.gov/commerce |
| Texas | Texas Department of Insurance | 512-676-6000 | 800-578-4677 | tdi.texas.gov |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | Division of Banking, Insurance & Financial Regulation | 340-774-2991 | St. Croix: 340-773-6449 | ltg.gov.vi |
| Utah | Utah Insurance Department | 801-957-9200 | 800-439-3805 (in-state) | insurance.utah.gov |
| Vermont | Department of Financial Regulation | 802-828-3301 | 800-964-1784 | dfr.vermont.gov |
| Virginia | Virginia Bureau of Insurance | 804-371-9741 | 877-310-6560 | scc.virginia.gov |
| Washington | Office of the Insurance Commissioner | 360-725-7000 | 800-562-6900 | insurance.wa.gov |
| West Virginia | Offices of the Insurance Commissioner | 304-558-3354 | 888-879-9842 (in-state) | wvinsurance.gov |
| Wisconsin | Office of the Commissioner of Insurance | 608-266-3586 | 800-236-8517 (in-state) | oci.wi.gov |
| Wyoming | Wyoming Insurance Department | 307-777-7401 | 800-438-5768 (in-state) | doi.wyo.gov |
Other Resources
- NAIC (national body of all state regulators) — naic.org · 816-842-3600. Their Consumer Insurance Search lets you look up a company’s complaint history and licensing status.
- State Health Insurance Assistance Programs (SHIP) — free, unbiased Medicare counselling in every state: shiphelp.org
- U.S. Dept. of Labor / EBSA — for self-funded employer plans: 1-866-444-3272 · askebsa.dol.gov
- HealthCare.gov — 1-800-318-2596
About This Page
Contact details were verified in July 2026 against the NAIC’s 2026 Membership List and state department websites. Insurance departments reorganize, relocate, and change phone numbers; if you find an out-of-date entry, please [contact us] and we’ll correct it. This page is reviewed every six months.
This page is informational and is not legal or insurance advice. For help with a specific claim, contact your state insurance department directly using the numbers above.
