Personal Background
Kent has served as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals, a judge for the 80th District Court in Harris County, Texas, and as First Assistant Attorney General, the second-highest-ranking official of the Texas Office of the Attorney General.
In 2017, he was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to serve as the Texas Commissioner of Insurance, the state’s top insurance regulatory position, responsible for the policies, operations, and enforcement activities of the Texas Department of Insurance. In this role, Kent helped protect consumers in the second-largest insurance market in the nation and the eighth largest in the world. Also, he was appointed by the United States Department of the Treasury to its Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance.
As the nation’s conversation around health care insurance intensifies, Kent is actively working with corporate clients to regain control of health insurance offerings, to seek transparency in cost and coverage decisions, and pursue litigation if needed. With experience overseeing the second-largest insurance market in the U.S., Kent can explain how the rise of Third-Party Administrators and Pharmacy Benefit Managers has caused employers and employees to lose control of their health insurance and how he is working with clients to demand change.
Community and Professional Activities
Kent currently serves on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee, appointed by the Court to advise on the rules of civil procedure, evidence, and appellate procedure. He is also a member of the Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee, appointed by Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz to offer counsel on candidates being evaluated for federal judiciary and US Attorneys positions.