Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New Jersey Mandates Fuller Hospital Error Disclosures
Sep 1 2009 // New Jersey hospitals will soon have to make public more detailed information on medical errors. The legislation — which also bars hospitals from charging insurers or patients for procedures to correct certain medical...
Nebraska High Court: Judge Must Explain Countrywide Insurance Ruling
Sep 1 2009 // A judge must explain to the Nebraska Supreme Court why he ordered a new trial in a multimillion dollar insurance dispute involving Florida and Omaha-based Countrywide Insurance Agency. In June 2008, the Supreme Court threw...
Colorado Lawmakers Hold Pinnacol Hearing
Sep 1 2009 // Colorado lawmakers heard from injured workers about their experiences with workers’ compensation on Monday. They gave testimony that the Denver Daily News called “horror” stories and...
How Changes to Federal and State Law Impact Golf and Country Clubs
Aug 31 2009 // Changes to state and federal law over the past few years may prove to be no gimme for golf and country clubs. In fact, since many club owners and managers are unaware of the potential impact of these laws, a simple...
Colorado Electricity Dam Fire Results in Indictment
Aug 31 2009 // Xcel Energy, Inc., Public Service Company of Colorado, RPI Coating, Inc., and two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver late Friday on charges that the defendants violated workplace safety and health rules...
North Carolina Governor Signs Beach Plan Insurance Reform Bill Into Law
Aug 27 2009 // North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue has signed into law legislation to shore-up the state’s backup coastal insurer and reduce the liability of private insurers should a major catastrophe strike the state. House Bill...
New Paper Evaluates Current State of Insurance Regulation and Its Future
Aug 27 2009 // The current state of the financial services industries and the role of the federal government in regulating these industries, including the insurance sector, continues to be a matter of debate in Congress. To help assess...
Bailed Out Firms Making Compensation Subject to Government Approval
Aug 25 2009 // Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and AIG are forging new employment contracts that let them void compensation agreements if they are challenged by the U.S. government, according to a person familiar with some recent...
Private Health Insurance Competition Weak in Many U.S. Markets
Aug 24 2009 // One of the most widely accepted arguments against a government medical plan for the middle class is that it would quash competition — just what private insurers seem to be doing themselves in many parts of the...
Michigan High Court to Reconsider Auto Accident Victims’ Right to Sue
Aug 24 2009 // The Michigan Supreme Court has set the stage for reversing a 2004 precedent that restricts when people injured in auto accidents can sue for pain and suffering. In a 4-3 order, the court decided to reconsider the case of...
States Give ‘Thumbs Up’ to Fingerprinting Insurance Producers
Aug 21 2009 // Don’t be alarmed, but there are convicted criminals roaming around the country acting as insurance producers. They could be drunk drivers, robbers, forgers, possibly even rapists. They got their producer licenses in...
Health Care Firms Must Notify Individuals If Data Is Breached
Aug 20 2009 // The federal government has issued new regulations requiring health care providers and health plans to notify individuals when their health information is breached. The rules, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and...
Pennsylvania Commissioner Meets with Agents’ Group
Aug 19 2009 // Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario met with yesterday with directors of the Insurance Agents & Brokers Service Group board of directors to discuss a number of key insurance issues in the Keystone State. Of...
Michigan Insurers Balk As Democrats Advance ‘Bad Faith’ Legislation
Aug 19 2009 // Michigan insurance companies say that so-called “bad faith” bills approved by the House Insurance Committee today are unnecessary and will open the floodgates for lawsuits against them, eventually costing...
‘Top Cop’ SEC Newly Aggressive in Attack on Wall Street Fraud
Aug 18 2009 // Wall Street’s top cop has a lot to prove and it’s been taking no prisoners. After enduring a thorough thrashing for its supervision of the now-defunct Bear Stearns and missing Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion...
Michigan Halts Novus Surplus Lines Insurance; Owner Defends Company
Aug 18 2009 // Michigan regulatory officials have charged an insurer and its managing general agency with fraud in the selling of surplus lines insurance. But the owner of the company that is is runoff says it did nothing wrong. The...
Indiana Attorney General: New Law Protects Teachers from Lawsuits
Aug 18 2009 // Indiana teachers will be shielded from frivolous lawsuits filed over student-discipline disputes under the state’s new teacher-protection law being fully implemented in August, the Indiana Attorney General’s...
Michigan Halts Novus Surplus Lines Sales; Owner Defends Insurer
Aug 18 2009 // Michigan regulatory officials have charged an insurer and its managing general agency with fraud in the selling of surplus lines insurance. But the owner says his company that is in runoff has done nothing wrong. The...
Colorado Workers’ Compensation Insurer Pinnacol Defends Agent Perks
Aug 17 2009 // Colorado’s dominant workers compensation insurer last week defended its spending on travel and entertainment for its agents, telling Colorado lawmakers it’s good for morale and helps lower costs in the long...
New Louisiana Traffic Laws Aim for Seatbelt Use, Bicyclist Protection
Aug 17 2009 // Back seat passengers will have to buckle up, drivers will need to give a wider berth to bicyclists and slow-driving sightseers will need to stick to the right lane on Louisiana’s highways under the new state traffic...
