Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Trade Sanctions and Risk Management
Nov 5 2012 // Understanding Economic Sanctions and Regulation When Doing Business Abroad The U.S. government has increasingly used laws and regulations that impose economic sanctions on others as an instrument to advance foreign policy...
Superstorm Sandy Will Test Federal Flood Insurance Program
Nov 2 2012 // Superstorm Sandy is threatening to drag the U.S. government’s debt-ridden flood insurance program back into the political crosshairs just months after Congress attempted to put the controversial program on a sound...
Kentucky Judge Grants Christians-Only Medi-Share Reprieve Until January
Nov 2 2012 // A Christians-only health insurance plan will be allowed to continue coverage for Kentucky members until Jan. 1. Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate made that decision on Wednesday. It means some 800 Kentuckians...
Investors Skirt New Shorting Curbs to Bet on European Union Woes
Nov 2 2012 // New rules to stop speculators making Europe’s debt crisis worse by betting on government bond defaults are prompting investors to find alternative ways to insure against or profit from bad news in the region. Credit...
Oklahoma Prepares for Open Carrying of Firearms
Nov 1 2012 // With Oklahoma preparing for a much-debated new law that allows people to carry their previously concealed firearms out in the open, state officials say they’ve seen a big increase in the number of residents seeking a...
Texas Lawmaker: Windpool’s Ike Litigation Costs Still Rising
Oct 29 2012 // Texas’ insurer of last resort for coastal property has paid out more than $1.2 billion in individual litigation costs related to Hurricane Ike, which struck in 2008, one state lawmaker says. Information released by...
FDA Needs New Authority Over Compounding Pharmacies: Report
Oct 29 2012 // The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s power to regulate compounded drugs similar to those linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak is legally nonbinding and lacks the authority of stringent standards imposed on drug...
New Mexico Court Rules Against Family Given Brain In Bag
Oct 26 2012 // A family can’t bring damage claims in New Mexico against an out-of-state funeral home that placed a relative’s brain in a casket with an embalmed body shipped to New Mexico, the state Court of Appeals ruled...
Businesses Call for Controls on Litigation Funding Firms
Oct 26 2012 // A business lobby group has called on the U.S. Congress to regulate companies that provide financing for commercial lawsuits, describing the practice as “coercive enterprise.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce...
IMF’s Lagarde Urges World Leaders to Act on Unfinished Financial Reforms
Oct 25 2012 // Unfinished financial reforms are hampering recovery in key parts of the global economy and weighing on economic growth, the head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Thursday. In a speech in Toronto, IMF Managing...
Will Regulatory Reform Trigger Doomsday for Captives?
Oct 25 2012 // If you’re startled by this headline, you’re not alone. Until recently, the words “reform” and “captive” were rarely used in the same sentence. That’s because captive insurance...
California Commissioner Considering ‘Force-placed’ Regulations
Oct 24 2012 // A meeting slated for Thursday called for by California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones to deal with “force-placed” insurance has cast the dye for debate on whether such insurance should be filed in the...
Activist Chairmen, Independent Directors Challenge CEOs, ‘Country Club’ Boards
Oct 24 2012 // In the summer of 2011, Yahoo Inc.’s board decided enough was enough. Directors had seen the Internet giant’s stock languish, and the answers they got from Carol Bartz, chief executive at the time, fell short of...
Wisconsin Workplace Shooting Brings Call for New Law on Guns
Oct 24 2012 // Two Wisconsin lawmakers are pushing legislation to tighten the enforcement of gun rules in domestic violence cases, prompted by a fatal shooting rampage at a suburban Milwaukee spa. Radcliffe Haughton, 45, bought a handgun...
AIG to Pay $11M Multi-State Settlement Over Life Policies
Oct 22 2012 // Insurer American International Group Inc. has agreed to an $11 million settlement with a group of states over its claims settlement practices for life insurance policies on Monday. AIG is the latest insurer to settle state...
Why the ‘Insurance Consumer Protection and Solvency Act’ Seems Destined to Fail
Oct 22 2012 // The debate over double taxation usually takes place in connection with capital gains or dividend taxes. But Republicans have introduced a bill that seeks to amend the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection...
Using Social Media Responsibly
Oct 22 2012 // Social media are changing the way insurance professionals do business. How can these forms of media, such as Pinterest, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, help make your business more successful? And how can you protect...
Allstate Agents Return to Massachusetts After 25 Years
Oct 22 2012 // Allstate Insurance Co. is reopening brick-and-mortar offices in Massachusetts after a quarter century of absence. Back in 1987, the Northbrook, Ill.-headquartered Allstate closed its offices in Massachusetts and pulled out...
California Legislature not Hesitant to Act on Insurance Issues
Oct 22 2012 // Dysfunctional. Inefficient, Ineffective. Slow. Partisan. Irrelevant. These are terms that regularly appear on editorial pages and political blogs to describe the California Legislature. It is true that when the Legislature...
Rowe High on Reform
Oct 22 2012 // State Fund President and CEO Tom Rowe, who gave a speech in mid October at the opening of Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California’s, inaugural InsurFEST in San Diego Calif., has a lot of confidence in...
