Latest Illinois Headlines
All the headlines from our Illinois Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Illinois Treasurer Looking into How Life Insurance Companies Avoid Payouts
Aug 17 2016 // Illinois Treasurer Michael Frerichs is launching a series of public hearings to explore how life insurance companies avoid paying death benefits. The first hearing is set for this morning in the city council chambers in...
Feds Investigate Illinois Firm Fined for Exposing Staff to Asbestos
Aug 16 2016 // U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration proceedings against an Illinois construction company fined for allegedly importing Mexican workers to remove asbestos are on hold as federal officials look into possible...
Illinois Senator Says Blue Cross Could Reduce Costs, Be More Competitive
Aug 16 2016 // U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin is taking the rare step of weighing in on the state’s handling of a hefty health insurance rate increase request, asking Illinois regulators to press the state’s leading insurer of...
Business-Backed Group Pushes for Workers’ Comp Opt-Out in Illinois
Aug 8 2016 // An Illinois think tank has issued a report expressing support for a workers’ compensation opt-out system, stating that it would give employers the ability to lower costs and allow for a more flexible workforce. In...
License Revoked by 2 States but Northern Illinois Agency Stays Open
Aug 8 2016 // By taking advantage of legal appeals processes, an Illinois managing general agency has been able to continue operations for more than a year despite having its license revoked or non-renewed by two separate state...
Employment Services Provider to Pay $1.4M to Settle Illinois Discrimination Charges
Aug 5 2016 // A leading payroll processing and human resource management outsourcing provider will pay nearly $1.4 million to voluntarily resolve employment discrimination charges filed in Illinois with the U.S. Equal Employment...
Illinois Medical Marijuana Program Grows, Sales Climb
Aug 5 2016 // Illinois officials posted new forms this week for doctors and patients in the state’s medical marijuana program to reflect changes in the law, and announced that July retail sales reached a new high at $2.9...
Illinois Town Settles Sexual Harassment Lawsuit Against Mayor for $120K
Aug 4 2016 // The village of Alsip, Ill., has settled a lawsuit alleging its mayor made unwanted sexual advances toward the Chicago suburb’s treasurer. The Daily Southtown reports the village will pay former treasurer Elizabeth...
Premium Hikes of Up to 45% Sought by Illinois Health Insurers
Aug 3 2016 // Health insurance premiums for Illinois residents who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act’s marketplace could increase by as much as 45 percent according to proposals submitted by insurers and made public on...
Illinois Governor Signs Law Extending Contraceptive Insurance Coverage
Aug 1 2016 // Insurance companies in Illinois have to provide coverage for nearly all contraceptives under a plan signed by Gov. Bruce Rauner. The new law takes effect in 2017. It extends coverage to almost all forms of contraception...
NTSB: Parts of Plane that Crashed in Illinois Scattered Nearly a Mile
Jul 29 2016 // A National Transportation Safety Board preliminary report says a plane that crashed southwest of Chicago killing the pilot and setting a house on fire, left nearly a mile-long trail of debris before crashing. The Piper...
Illinois Moves to Shut Down Health Insurance Co-Op
Jul 25 2016 // Illinois insurance regulators are seeking the rehabilitation of a failing health insurance co-op that the department previously attempted to rescue. Anne Melissa Dowling, Acting Director of the Illinois Department of...
Despite Having License Revoked by 2 States, Northern Illinois Agency Continues to Operate
Jul 20 2016 // By taking advantage of legal appeals processes, an Illinois managing general agency has been able to continue operations for more than a year despite having its license revoked or non-renewed by two separate state...
Illinois Emergency Medical Service Provider Fined $290K for Workplace Hazards
Jul 14 2016 // Federal safety and health investigators have cited Altamont Ambulance Service Inc. in Fairview Heights, Ill., for workplace safety and health violations and find the company $290,100. The federal Occupational Safety and...
Failing Illinois Health Insurance Co-Op to Be Shut Down
Jul 14 2016 // An Illinois health insurance co-op with 49,000 policyholders in the state has become the latest casualty among a dwindling group of nonprofit alternative insurers set up under the Affordable Care Act. Illinois regulators...
Illinois Stepping in to Help Struggling Insurance Co-Op
Jul 8 2016 // The state of Illinois has tried an unusual maneuver to save a health insurer with 49,000 Illinois policyholders from possible financial failure by blocking it from paying a $31.8 million bill to the federal...
Jury Awards $27M to Four Fired Allstate Employees in Illinois
Jul 5 2016 // A federal jury has awarded more than $27 million to four former Allstate employees who sued the insurer for defamation. The Chicago Tribune reported the employees worked for a now-defunct equity division of the Northbrook,...
Aetna’s Purchase of Humana OK’d by Illinois Insurance Regulator, with Condition
Jun 28 2016 // The Illinois Department of Insurance has approved Aetna Inc.’s proposed $34 billion acquisition of Humana Inc. provided it is approved by the U.S. Department of Justice, according to an order dated June 23 posted on...
Illinois Insurance Co-Op Sues Feds over ACA Payments
Jun 27 2016 // A struggling Illinois health insurance co-op is suing the federal government, claiming it is being shortchanged $72.8 million in promised payments under the Affordable Care Act. Chicago-based Land of Lincoln Health filed...
J.M. Wilson Adds 2 in Underwriting Positions in Illinois
Jun 27 2016 // Managing general agency and surplus lines broker, J.M. Wilson, has hired Chance Winke and Tim Frawley in underwriting positions in its Arlington Heights, Ill., office. Winke is an assistant in the transportation...
