Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Oklahoma City– Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner John Doak has announced Bev Binkowski as the second recipient of the Oklahoma Insurance Department’s Outstanding Insurance Professional of the month Award.
Binkowski is the Director of Public Affairs for BlueCross BlueShield of Oklahoma, a division of Health Care Service Corporation, which also manages BlueCross BlueShield divisions in Illinois, Texas and New Mexico.
“I’m pleased that Bev Binkowski is our second recipient of this new award, and a very deserving one,” Commissioner Doak said. “Her career with BlueCross BlueShield has been consumer-focused, emphasizing wellness and informing small businesses and the public about what insurance can do to improve their health and lifestyle.”
“I’m very, truly honored, and very surprised” to be recognized as Oklahoma’s Insurance Professional of the Month, Binkowski said. “It’s something I never, ever would have expected.”
Binkowski’s tenure in the insurance business began as a customer service representative with Blue Cross of Michigan, shortly after she graduated from Central Michigan University. Moving to Oklahoma in 1983, she earned her producer’s license in 1984-85 and worked for BlueCross BlueShield in several capacities, including product design, marketing to small businesses, and marketing Medicare supplemental coverage. Her areas of expertise include health and wellness, which she notes are fields of major interest as the nation looks for ways to improve the public health and reduce the escalating costs of health care.
Binkowski is also very involved in the community, having served on the boards of directors for the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce, the United Way of Central Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Caring Foundation (a mobile immunization network). She has been an active volunteer and a member of the American Red Cross of Central Oklahoma’s board of directors for 12 years, is active in the Oklahoma Chamber of Commerce, serving as chairwoman of its Congressional Relations Committee, and is a member of Rotary Club 29 – “The Downtown Rotary Club.” She has also held roles on the boards of the Lyn Research Institute and the Oklahoma Association of Health Plans, and on the OU Breast Research Institute Board of Advisors.
A native of Michigan, Binkowski makes her home in Edmond with her three golden retrievers, Hunter, Summer and Carson.
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About the Oklahoma Insurance Department
The Oklahoma Insurance Department, an agency of the State of Oklahoma, is responsible for the education and protection of the insurance-buying public and for oversight of the insurance industry in the state.
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For more information contact:
Glenn Craven
(405) 522-1769
e-mail: glenn.craven@oid.ok.gov