Rita Gallo

Background

About Rita Gallo

I am a native New Yorker who lived and worked in Hartford County, Connecticut for 25 years, returned briefly to New York City for an 8-year period, and relocated again in 2021 to the Boston area where I currently reside. Commitment to family has been at the heart of every major decision (and relocation) in my life, and my career growth and development have been driven by curiosity, creativity, connection, and courage. During my 25 years as a compliance professional, I, along with the entire insurance industry, have evolved my practice to integrate customer needs and preferences into every area of company operations. I have held both individual contributor and people manager positions, driven large projects for change and served as a consultant and stakeholder for leaders driving change. I have served as the face of the company to state and federal regulators during high profile examinations while coaching and mentoring teams to do their best work. The arc of my insurance career began as a paralegal in a prominent Hartford, Connecticut law firm, transitioned to 2 major Hartford area carriers, CIGNA HealthCare and The Hartford, and most recently to Guardian Life in New York City. I have successfully facilitated numerous high-profile examinations, including 4 New York consolidated financial exams, a multi-state disability claims exam and a New York Health Care Reform Act (NYHCRA) Pool audit, with zero or significantly reduced monetary penalties. As regulators shifted to market regulation reviews of available carrier data, I leveraged my operations expertise to improve the quality and consistency of those data submissions, resulting in significant reductions in regulatory penalties year over year. I spearheaded all corrective action plans resulting from my examinations, often designing the necessary changes to systems, workflows, reporting and communications. I implemented extensive new regulatory requirements, such as the Market Conduct Annual Statement (MCAS) Disability Income schedules, California Senate Bill 137 (health care provider directories) and All Payer Claim Database reporting. As a key compliance stakeholder, I gained experience in Waterfall and SAFe Agile methodologies. As Guardian shifted to a second line of defense compliance governance model, I participated in the compliance risk assessment and monitored controls. I recently pivoted to a career in public service at the Massachusetts Division of Insurance, Bureau of Managed Care, where I endeavor to use my expertise to benefit consumers and the industry from a new perspective.