Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Experts: Insurance Distribution Future Online and Personalized

Nov 3 2014 // The future of insurance distribution was recently discussed at the CPCU Society’s annual All Industry Day in California. The day-long conference at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City last month included...

Southern California Docs Bribed to Use Unsafe Spine Screws, Suits Claim

Nov 3 2014 // A former Southern California hospital executive is being sued by more than two dozen people who claim he ran a scheme that bribed surgeons to implant counterfeit screws in their patients’ spines, causing pain and...

NOAA Says Don’t Expect a Sequel of Last Winter’s Polar Vortex

Nov 3 2014 // If you thought last winter was a horror show, with cold blasts from the polar vortex and a lack of California rain, here’s some good news: No sequel is expected this year, federal forecasters say. Mike Halpert of the...

Uber Ridesharing Serving Kids and Their Busy Parents

Oct 31 2014 // As the oldest of three kids, Baily Deeter was often the last to be picked up from school by his mother. Then Uber Technologies Inc. came along. When Baily started ninth grade in August, his parents gave him an account for...

California Drought Bad Tidings for Rice Harvest

Oct 30 2014 // California’s deepening drought is shrinking its rice harvest, and that’s bad news for farmers, migratory birds and sushi lovers. The $5 billion industry exports rice to more than 100 countries and specializes...

Judge: Sailors Can Sue California Company Over Fukushima Exposure

Oct 30 2014 // U.S. Navy personnel who were exposed to radiation from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima plant during earthquake and tsunami relief efforts in 2011 can sue the power station’s operator in California, a court...

California Malpractice Proposition Hit by Polls, Studies, Spending

Oct 29 2014 // Two recent studies say a proposition on California’s November ballot to raise the pain and suffering cap for medical malpractice lawsuits will increase medical costs and malpractice premiums. The studies and heavy...

Suhr in California Names Kosko Account Executive

Oct 28 2014 // Gerry Kosko has joined Suhr Risk Services in San Jose, Calif. as account executive in employee benefits. Kosko is a health insurance funding strategist. He specializes in working with business owners and human resources...

Monarch Names Neville Senior Underwriter in California

Oct 24 2014 // Monarch E&S has named Deb Neville a senior commercial lines underwriter in its San Diego, Calif. branch office. Neville has extensive commercial lines experience and has been working in the excess and surplus lines...

California Earthquake Authority Proposes to Lower Rates

Oct 23 2014 // The California Earthquake Authority on Thursday proposed an average 8 percent decrease in rates. CEA’s Advisory Panel recommended the rate decreases, along with additional coverage options in deductibles, discounts...

Mercury Agrees to Acquire Workmen’s Auto Insurance in California

Oct 23 2014 // Mercury General Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to purchase of Workmen’s Auto Insurance Co. Both insurers are based in Los Angeles, Calif. The purchase price is $8 million and the transaction is...

Workers’ Comp Study Looks at California’s Reforms

Oct 23 2014 // When California Senate Bill 863 took effect Jan. 1, 2013, it created several fee schedule changes in the California workers’ compensation system. The Workers Compensation Research Institute has released a study...

Suhr Names Dershimer Vice President of Employee Benefits in California

Oct 22 2014 // Suhr Risk Services has named Jed Dershimer vice president of employee benefits in San Jose, Calif. Dershimer previously worked at Hays Companies, ADP and Verizon, in addition to a lengthy prior stint with Suhr. He...

New York Says It’s Ready for Ebola, but Many Health Workers Aren’t So Sure

Oct 22 2014 // Millicent Gist, a receptionist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, was surprised to hear her facility was an officially designated hospital for people suspected of having Ebola in New York City. That’s...

Kentucky OxyContin Case Against Purdue Pharma Leads Fight Over Opioid Abuse

Oct 22 2014 // No one rises as Circuit Judge Steven Combs enters his courtroom in Pikeville, Kentucky. Combs wears a white shirt and yellow tie, no robe. Lawyers approach the bench as their cases are called, shake the judge’s hand...

California Jury Finds Toyota Seatbelt Caused Woman’s Paraplegia

Oct 21 2014 // A California Superior Court jury has found Toyota Motor Corp. liable for causing devastating injuries to a young woman in a crash that occurred in Monterey over four and a half years ago in a verdict rendered late...

Southern California Agent That Sold Bogus Policies Sentenced

Oct 21 2014 // Dean Joseph Basler, 58, of Ventura, Calif. pleaded guilty to two felony counts of embezzlement associated with more than $250,000 in premiums that Basler received for homeowners insurance policies. According to the...

Southern California Docs Bribed To Use Unsafe Spine Screws, Suits Claims

Oct 20 2014 // A former Southern California hospital executive is being sued by more than two dozen people who claim he ran a scheme that bribed surgeons to implant counterfeit screws in their patients’ spines, causing pain and...

California Earthquake Authority to Sell $350M of Bonds

Oct 20 2014 // The California Earthquake Authority, the largest seismic insurer in the U.S., is selling $350 million in bonds to strengthen its ability to pay claims, after the state’s first death due to a quake in 11 years. The...

Does Prop 103 Violate Itself?

Oct 20 2014 // The history of the American administrative state has been filled with attempts to introduce “rationality” and “discipline” to circumstances in which markets, left to their own devices, allegedly...