Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Declarations
Jun 2 2008 // Insurance Industry Move “Shortly after September 11, it became very clear to me that the federal government lacks the expertise it needs on insurance policy. Our experiences after Hurricane Katrina and the ongoing...
GINA: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
Jun 2 2008 // New law prohibits insurers from genetic discrimination Congress passed — and the President signed — a bill prohibiting discrimination by health plans and employers based on an individual’s genetic makeup. The...
Texas Review Board Says Insurance Department Works Well but Offers Changes
Jun 2 2008 // Department could do a better job regulating property/casualty rates Texas Sunset Advisory Commission staff in a report released in May 2008 said the Texas Department of Insurance functions well but that the state’s...
Insurance Companies Face Global Warming Claims
Jun 2 2008 // Corporations exposed to liability for greenhouse gas emissions The industry is about to enter an era of global warming insurance claims. Scientists have been warning about the impact global warming could have if greenhouse...
GINA: A Solution in Search of a Problem?
Jun 2 2008 // New law prohibits insurers from genetic discrimination Congress passed — and the President signed — a bill prohibiting discrimination by health plans and employers based on an individual’s genetic makeup. The...
Arizona Passes Captive Insurance Legislation
Jun 2 2008 // The Arizona Legislature passed a bill designed to allow captive insurers to cover employment practices liability risk and remove the requirement that at least one incorporator be a resident of the state. Captive insurance...
RMS Attends Chinese Regulatory Conference to Promote Data Standards
May 30 2008 // In the wake of the devastating Sichuan earthquake, representatives from The China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), Risk Management Solutions (RMS), and China’s Institute of Engineering Mechanics (IEM) met with...
Fla. Gov. Signs Law Extending Citizens Rate Freeze; Nixes Private Incentive
May 29 2008 // Gov. Charlie Crist has signed homeowners insurance legislation in Florida that extends for another year a rate freeze for the 1.2 million customers of state-backed Citizens Insurance whose premiums in some cases are...
State Regulators Call for More Study of Credit Scoring Use in Insurance
May 28 2008 // State regulators recently told Congress that more study of the use of credit scoring by insurance companies is needed to determine if the practice is unfairly discriminatory. “As state regulators, it is our sincere...
New York Senate Bill Bans Texting While Driving
May 28 2008 // The New York Senate has passed legislation that would prohibit drivers from reading, writing or sending text messages while driving in the Empire State. The law modifies earlier legislation that bans cell phone use while...
Anti-Bias Laws Cover Retaliation Claims, U.S. Supreme Court Rules
May 27 2008 // Employees who complain of racial bias in the workplace and then face retaliation can sue under a post-Civil War-era law barring discrimination, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. In a second similar decision, the high...
West Va. Judge OKs Hospital Settlements with 9 More King Patients
May 27 2008 // A circuit judge has approved settlements totaling more than $10 million in nine more malpractice lawsuits that accused a former West Virginia doctor of harming patients. Lawyers for Putnam General Hospital and the...
Judge: Company Will Pay $10M for Tainted Lunch Boxes
May 27 2008 // A judge has ordered a Los Angeles-based company to pay more than $10 million for selling the state lead-tainted lunch boxes. The company, T.A. Creations, sold 100,000 children’s lunch boxes to the California...
Trucking Under the Influence: Is a National Clearinghouse Needed?
May 23 2008 // It is estimated that somewhere between 1 percent and 10 percent of drivers of commercial or “big rig” trucks are operating under the influence of drugs or alcohol on any given day. The American Trucking...
Texas Review Board Says Insurance Department Works, Offers Changes
May 22 2008 // Staff of the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission says the Texas Department of Insurance functions well but that the state’s “overall approach to insurance regulation,” may need tweaking. State agencies in...
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Offers Rate Filing Seminar
May 21 2008 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation has scheduled a symposium to instruct insurance company representatives to make rate filings more accurate and complete and in compliance with Florida law. The information session...
Judge: Evidence Showed Greenberg Phone Call in AIG/General Re Case
May 21 2008 // A U.S. judge who oversaw the trial of executives accused of helping American International Group Inc. inflate reserves said there was sufficient evidence to show the conspiracy started with a phone call from the...
Minnesota Governor Signs Flood Insurance Disclosure Bill
May 20 2008 // Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty signed a bill on May 14th that requires insurance companies and agents to notify homeowners annually if their insurance policies do not include flood coverage. The required notice will say the...
Memo to State Insurance Regulators: Pack Your Bags!
May 20 2008 // It’s time for the group representing the states’ insurance regulatory experts to pack up its bags, computers and name badges — and move to Washington, D.C. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners...
Judge Rejects New Trial for Convicted Gen Re, AIG Executives
May 20 2008 // A federal judge has rejected requests to overturn the convictions of five former insurance company executives in a scheme to manipulate the financial statements of the world’s largest insurance company. The four...
