AUGUSTA – Maine Insurance Superintendent Al Iuppa has confirmed the state is now part of a coordinated nationwide investigation into price fixing, unethical conduct and other abuses in the insurance industry.

The broader effort was triggered by a criminal investigation launched in October by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. That probe into major insurance brokerages has implicated some of the country’s top insurance companies and already led to some high-level resignations and criminal charges.

Testifying Tuesday before the U.S. Senate’s Governmental Affairs Committee, which is examining federal insurance regulations, Spitzer said the investigation may lead to a “Pandora’s box” of unethical conduct.

Several brokers are accused of cheating customers by rigging prices and steering business to insurers in exchange for millions of dollars in kickbacks. Such fraudulent practices can and have led to higher premiums for clients’ employees, according to investigators.

While his probe initially focused on commercial insurance, Spitzer has indicated there is evidence of wrongdoing in “virtually every line of insurance,” including coverage on cars, homes and health insurance.

Iuppa said Maine would be working with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners on the collaborative investigation.

He said he could not comment on whether there are specific cases in Maine that are under investigation, but that commissioners are collecting facts from companies and insurance brokers across the country to assess what agents are disclosing to companies buying insurance through brokers.

Insurance brokers are supposed to find the best insurance coverage at the best price for their clients, who can range from giant corporations to regional businesses and local mom-and-pop operations. The broker gets a commission from the clients for arranging that coverage.

But years ago, brokers also began collecting fees from the insurers for steering a certain volume of business their way or for a particularly profitable deal.

Many brokers have said that as long as the payments from insurance companies are disclosed to clients, there is no conflict of interest.

Spitzer and others contend, however, that brokers have not told clients how the dealings between brokers and insurance companies really work. He says the dealings too often have resulted in higher profits for the broker and insurer, and higher insurance costs for the customers.

Hours after he spoke, two executives at Zurich American Insurance Co. pleaded guilty in New York to criminal charges. Senior underwriters John Keenan and Edward Coughlin pleaded guilty to misdemeanors for helping submit losing bids in order to steer business to a predetermined favorite. Both are cooperating with investigators.

In a civil lawsuit, Spitzer maintains that Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. took payoffs from insurance companies, resulting in businesses being forced to pay more than necessary for property and casualty policies.

Some of the largest insurers, including American International Group Inc., ACE Insurance Co. of North America, The Hartford and Munich American Risk Partners are named in Spitzer’s suit. Others are said to be under investigation. Two AIG executives and an ACE official have pleaded guilty to illegal conduct.

Also testifying before Congress on Tuesday, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told lawmakers that small cities and towns may have been socked with excessive charges for property casualty, health and workers’ compensation insurance that municipalities felt powerless to challenge. Those costs, he said, ultimately would be borne by taxpayers. His office is now culling information from local officials about their dealings with insurance companies.

Blumenthal insisted that state insurance laws, including Connecticut’s, should be “reinvigorated and reinvented” to combat fraud, illegal steering and bid rigging. Specifically, he called for a new state code of ethics for both insurance brokers and agents, requiring them to tell clients about special compensation arrangements.

“If the practices identified in our [investigation] are as widespread as they appear to be, then the industry’s fundamental business model needs major corrective action and reform,” Spitzer said. “There is simply no responsible argument for a system that rigs bids, stifles competition and cheats customers.”

Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe declined to comment on the investigations under way in other states or Maine’s involvement. But, in a recent letter responding to state Sen. Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, who raised concerns about the investigations in other states, Rowe indicated his office is “watching” the probe.

“In the past several years, the state attorneys general have successfully combined their efforts to enforce state laws against a number of national businesses,” he wrote. “We will keep you informed of developments in any insurance industry cases that may arise to whatever extent confidentiality laws allow.”

Edmonds said she wrote Rowe and Iuppa last month after reading newspaper accounts about the investigation in New York.

“I am very concerned, given the high cost of workers’ compensation insurance and other insurances in Maine, that this might be going on here,” she said in an interview. “That’s why I wrote the attorney general and the insurance superintendent.”

Since her initial letter last month, both Connecticut and Massachusetts have announced investigations of how insurance sales are conducted in those states. Edmunds said that only increased her concerns that there may be similar abuses here in Maine.

Iuppa said the National Association of Insurance Commissioners determined at a meeting earlier this month that the issues raised by the investigations in several states require a broad approach, not just the criminal investigations that are under way.

“We are looking at developing model [state] legislation that will require more complete disclosure,” Iuppa said. “I hope that will be ready for the Legislature to consider this session.”

He said the group also has decided there needs to be a nationwide Web site for consumers to complain about possible abuses in the sale of insurance. He said plans for that should be completed in the next few weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.