Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurers Laud New Jersey Fraud-Fighting Legislation
Feb 3 2011 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) says it wants New Jersey lawmakers to adopt legislations that would enhance fraud-fighting efforts. The insurers’ trade group, which testified today in...
Judge Finds Claims Fund Chief Feinberg Not Independent of BP
Feb 3 2011 // The administrator of BP Plc’s $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Gulf oil spill is not independent and the oil company must refrain from calling him “neutral,” a federal judge ruled on...
Congress Trying Again on Patent Reform
Feb 3 2011 // Senior U.S. lawmakers are once again planning to reform the patent system to try to eliminate huge damage awards, an issue ripe for legislation after recent court decisions challenged calculation methods. Patent reform, in...
Predictive Modeling Improving Insurers’ Bottom Lines, Market Share
Feb 2 2011 // Property/casualty insurance carriers currently utilizing predictive modeling continue to see their bottom lines improve and almost 4 out of 10 say it has helped them increase market share. For this and other reasons,...
Federal Judge in Florida Rules Healthcare Law Must Be Voided
Jan 31 2011 // A federal judge in Florida struck down President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare overhaul as unconstitutional Monday in the biggest legal challenge yet to federal authority to enact the law. U.S. District Judge...
Marsh Sees Soft Commercial Insurance Market Continuing
Jan 31 2011 // Another report indicates that soft commercial insurance market conditions that persisted throughout the U.S. in 2010 will continue into 2011. Key commercial insurance market drivers from 2009—including intense...
Judge Defends Spill Decision That Upset Louisiana AG
Jan 31 2011 // A federal judge said Jan. 28 that he wasn’t trying to deprive states of their rights when he appointed Alabama’s newly elected attorney general to coordinate all states’ interests in the litigation...
Oklahoma Lawmaker, Manufactured Housing Assoc. Tackling Tornado Safety
Jan 27 2011 // Oklahoma State Rep. Pat Ownbey and the Manufactured Housing Association of Oklahoma Board of Directors’ are seeking to develop sample emergency plans for mobile home communities to prevent deaths in the event of a...
Arkansas Panel Votes Down Bill Attacking Federal Health Insurance Overhaul
Jan 27 2011 // A legislative committee in Arkansas has blocked an attempt to reject a key portion of the federal health care overhaul, while another group of lawmakers passed the first appropriation bill in the third week of the...
Mississippi AG Wants Judge to Take Over BP Oil Spill Claims
Jan 27 2011 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood is asking for the federal judge in charge of the litigation surrounding the BP oil spill to take over the Gulf Coast Claims Facility process. Hood filed a “Statement of Interest...
Davos Leaders Warn on Food Inflation, Speculation amid Mideast Unrest
Jan 27 2011 // World leaders warned on Thursday that soaring food prices risked stoking unrest and even war, but top executives meeting in the Swiss resort of Davos rejected calls for curbs on commodity speculation. Indonesian President...
P/C Insurers Like Some of Obama’s State of Union Promises
Jan 27 2011 // Property/casualty insurers found things to like in President Obama’s State of the Union speech that was largely focused on the economy and business. Medical malpractice reform, regulatory review, and trade...
Judge Permits Mississippi Whistleblower Case Against Insurer
Jan 27 2011 // U.S. District Judge L.T. Senter Jr. has declined to dismiss a whistleblower lawsuit filed against State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. State Farm had sought dismissal of the 2006 lawsuit filed by Cori and Kerri Rigsby, who...
Democrats Vow to Pursue Oil Spill Liability Bill
Jan 26 2011 // U.S. Democrats Wednesday pressed for new legislation aimed at preventing a repeat of last year’s massive BP oil spill, as Republicans warned that the disaster should not be used to hamper offshore oil and natural gas...
Alabama Court Rules University Hospital Shares State Immunity
Jan 26 2011 // The Alabama Supreme Court has thrown out a $3.2 million judgment against a Montgomery hospital, ruling for the first time that a hospital affiliated with a state university shares the state’s immunity from...
Judge Rules Barge Did Not Cause Katrina Flooding in New Orleans
Jan 25 2011 // A federal judge has ruled that a barge that landed on top of several homes in the Lower 9th Ward in New Orleans did not cause the floodwall to break during Hurricane Katrina. U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. of New...
Tennessee Firms Opting Out of Workers’ Compensation Must Register
Jan 25 2011 // A new Tennessee law is requiring all construction firm owners to register with the state if they choose to opt out of the state’s workers’ compensation system. The new law is designed to protect general...
California To Enforce Health Insurer Spending Limits
Jan 25 2011 // California’s Office of Administrative Law (OAL) has approved state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones’ request for an emergency regulation to give him the authority to enforce the 80 percent Medical Loss Ratio...
Guernsey Statement: ‘No Plans’ to Seek Equivalence under Solvency II
Jan 25 2011 // The Commerce and Employment Department of the States of Guernsey (the Guernsey Government) and the financial regulator, the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC) have released a joint statement, which affirms that...
Judge Imprisons 2 for Life in Texas Church Arsons
Jan 24 2011 // A judge has sentenced two men to life in prison after they pleaded guilty in a series of fires at churches in Smith County in East Texas last year. Judge Christi Kennedy ordered the prison terms for 20-year-old Jason...
