Latest Legislation Headlines

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

Maryland’s Chesapeake Employers to Begin Phasing in NCCI Rates in 2020

Apr 5 2016 // Chesapeake Employers’ Insurance Company, Maryland’s largest writer of workers’ compensation insurance, announced its plan to phase in the National Council on Compensation Insurance’s (NCCI) rating...

Florida Approves Anthem Bid to Acquire Cigna’s Florida-based Affiliates

Apr 5 2016 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has issued a Consent Order (see below) approving, with additional requirements, Anthem, Inc.’s (Anthem) application to acquire 100 percent of the issued and...

California Judge Rules in Favor of Lumber Liquidators in Prop. 65 Case

Apr 5 2016 // Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. won a tentative ruling dismissing claims that it failed to adequately warn consumers about cancer-causing formaldehyde found in some of its laminate flooring. Monday’s decision is a...

Regulatory SOS: Leveraging Change to Succeed in the Flood Space

Apr 5 2016 // John Dickson, President of NFS Edge Insurance Agency, Inc. April 5, 2016- Change isn’t always easy. If you’re an insurance agent or WYO facing the April 1, 2016, regulatory changes to the National Flood...

Utah Judge Limits Suit over Drunken Attack at Ski Resort’s Oktoberfest

Apr 4 2016 // A Utah judge in late-March tossed out part of a lawsuit filed by a family who says they were beaten by drunken revelers at a ski resort’s Oktoberfest celebration because the event has turned into a booze-fueled Rocky...

Massachusetts Court Rules on ‘Equitable Contribution’ Case

Apr 4 2016 // Massachusetts’ top court ruled in March that a workers’ compensation insurer that has paid benefits has a right to pursue “equitable contribution” from a second insurer that also provided coverage...

Florida’s Citizens Pushes Policy Changes to Address Rising Water Loss Claims

Apr 4 2016 // Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s board of governors approved recommendations last month aimed at reducing the impact of what it calls skyrocketing water-loss claims that could reverse progress made in returning...

Uncertainties Outweigh Growth Benefits When P/C Insurers Take On Too Much Cyber Risk, Rating Agency Warns

Apr 4 2016 // If they are not careful, property/casualty insurers could jeopardize their credit ratings with their expansion into standalone cyber insurance, a rating agency has warned. Cyber attacks pose dangerous risks and uncertainty...

Illinois Lawmaker: ‘Uninsured’ State-Owned Vehicles Should Come Off Road

Apr 3 2016 // A state lawmaker says Illinois should pull state-owned vehicles off the road during its budget stalemate unless money is appropriated to self-insure them. Republican state Rep. Bill Mitchell of Forysth says one of his...

Maine Bill Seeks Strong Limits on Opioid Prescriptions

Apr 1 2016 // The Maine Legislature is poised to pass a bill sponsored by Gov. Paul LePage that would put the state on the front line of a national movement to monitor and restrict opioid painkillers. The Republican’s bill would...

Judge Cuts N.Y. Financier’s Damages Judgment in Harassment Case

Apr 1 2016 // A federal judge on Thursday reduced by more than two-thirds the maximum sum a Swedish woman can recover after having prevailed in a jury trial against a New York financier she accused of sexual harassment and...

Lloyd’s Seeks to Open Reinsurance Branch in Mumbai, India

Apr 1 2016 // Lloyd’s announced it intends to file an application to open a reinsurance branch in Mumbai, following the publication of regulations governing the Lloyd’s market earlier this week by the Insurance Regulatory...

Climate Change Easy Bet to Be Hot Topic at Insurance Regulators’ Meeting

Mar 31 2016 // Mark down the Climate Change and Global Warming Working Group as the odds-on favorite committee to produce the most interesting chatter during the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting next week in The...

Massachusetts Court Rules on ‘Equitable Contribution’ Case

Mar 30 2016 // Massachusetts’ top court ruled this month that a workers’ compensation insurer that has paid benefits under a policy has a right to pursue “equitable contribution” from a second insurer that also...

Hawaii Lawmakers: How Much Pot Is OK While Driving?

Mar 30 2016 // Hawaii lawmakers are asking how much marijuana a driver can safely consume before getting behind the wheel of a car. It’s an issue they want to tackle now that Hawaii is setting up medical marijuana dispensaries, so...

The Future of Commercial Drone Use

Mar 29 2016 // There could be 7 million small drones in the sky by 2020, according to U.S. aviation officials, who believe that as many as 2.7 million of them will be used for commercial purposes. These same officials predict that small...

The Final 2: Bragg, Hager Last Men Standing for Florida Commissioner Job

Mar 25 2016 // For the first time in 13 years, Florida is preparing to appoint a new insurance commissioner. The pool of 55 candidates has been whittled down to just two. Per recommendation of the Florida Cabinet, Jeffrey Bragg and...

State Farm Latest Company to Stop Donating to N.J. Rep. Garrett

Mar 25 2016 // Add the nation’s largest property-casualty insurer to the growing list of financial companies that won’t be donating to U.S. Representative Scott Garrett in the wake of his alleged anti-gay remarks. State Farm...

Judge Grants VW More Time for Diesel Fix

Mar 25 2016 // Volkswagen AG was given four more weeks to reach an agreement with regulators for getting 600,000 diesel vehicles off U.S. roads as it faces hundreds of lawsuits for rigging pollution control systems to cheat emissions...

Florida Beach City Businesses Say Spring Break Laws Hurting Sales

Mar 24 2016 // Businesses in Panama City Beach, Fla., say new laws aimed at cutting down excessive spring break drinking are also hurting sales and forcing layoffs. Bars, restaurants, scooter shops and other businesses say they’re...