Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Judge: Trapped Miners Can Sue Company, Not 3 Others
Feb 22 2008 // Eight of the nine miners trapped underground in July 2002 when a Pennsylvania mineshaft flooded can continue their suit against the firm that controlled the mine, a judge ruled. Six other miners who narrowly escaped being...
Employers, Lawmakers Push Doctors to Adopt Electronic Prescriptions
Feb 22 2008 // Motivated by mounting medical costs, lawmakers and executives are urging doctors to embrace a seemingly simple way to save billions of dollars a year: prescribe medications online. Officials in the public and private...
Fla. Lawmakers Confront Property Insurance, again, in 2008 Session
Feb 22 2008 // Property insurance wasn’t supposed to be the big issue in the 2008 Florida Legislature. To the chagrin of many lawmakers, it just won’t go away. Legislators thought they’d largely taken care of the issue...
Judge Declines Indictment Dismissal of Miss. Attorney in Bribery Case
Feb 22 2008 // A federal judge on Wednesday in Mississippi declined to dismiss an indictment in a judicial bribery case against powerful attorney Richard “Dickie” Scruggs and two others. Scruggs, his son Zach and law partner...
Seattle Court Rules Failure to Disclose Pollution Incidents Voids Vessel Policy
Feb 21 2008 // The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle has upheld an Alaskan district court ruling that a primary insurance carrier can cancel a marine vessel’s pollution insurance policy on the basis that the insured...
Swiss Re Registers as Admitted Brazilian Reinsurer
Feb 20 2008 // Swiss Re announced that it will become an admitted reinsurer in Brazil with a representative office in São Paulo. The world’s largest reinsurer joins Lloyd’s and Munich Re in accessing the Brazilian market...
IRS Tax Code Change Called Threat to Captive Insurance States
Feb 20 2008 // U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., is asking the U.S. Treasury to block a pending tax code change seen by some as a threat to Vermont’s captive insurance industry. Welch and three Democratic colleagues from states that...
Consumer Safety Chief Slams Toy Industry Over Poor Safety
Feb 20 2008 // The acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission lashed out this week at the toy industry for a lack of safety controls that led to a string of highly publicized recalls, and she warned that the industry is...
Marsh Report on Europe Transport Highlights Regulatory, Liability Concerns
Feb 19 2008 // A new report from Marsh’s London office focuses on the increasing problems of transport and logistics firms across Europe in coping with new categories of liability and an increasingly complex regulatory...
S.D. Court Rules Against Former Agent Who Held Insurance Executive Hostage
Feb 19 2008 // A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s ruling against the Sioux Falls man who held an insurance executive hostage in 1991. Eric Castaneira, who served 10 years for kidnapping, filed a lawsuit against the...
Fla. Sen. Committee Wants Allstate’s Internal Documents
Feb 18 2008 // A special Senate committee asked Allstate Insurance company executives to provide them more documents within two weeks in a letter mailed last week to the insurance giant’s chairman. Sen. Steven Geller, a Cooper City...
Lawsuit Presses Mich. Lawmakers to Allow Licenses for Legal Immigrants
Feb 15 2008 // When Michigan officials recently reinterpreted state law to stop nonresidents from getting driver’s licenses, critics said it had an unintended consequence. The crackdown, intended to target illegal immigrants, also...
U.S. Proposes System to Promote Voluntary Reporting of Medical Errors
Feb 15 2008 // The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a proposed regulation that promises to foster Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs), private entities that would collect information on medical erors, or...
Lawmakers Blast Spitzer’s $15 Charge on Auto Insurance
Feb 15 2008 // A proposal to charge New Yorkers a $15 fee on their auto insurance faced a road block Wednesday in the state Legislature. Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s proposal would help pay for bridge maintenance and repairs that lawmakers...
Wells Named Workers’ Comp Administrative Law Judge in Ark.
Feb 15 2008 // Eric Paul Wells, an attorney from Paris, is the Arkansas Workers’ Compensation Commission’s newest administrative law judge, the agency announced. Since March 2004 he has been the deputy prosecuting attorney...
Okla. GOP Lawmaker to Return Insurance-related Campaign Donation
Feb 14 2008 // An Oklahoma Republican House leader said he will return a $5,000 campaign contribution from a donor who sought legislation that would have helped insurance companies tied to the donor’s family. House Majority Leader...
Avid Biker, U.S. Transportation Chief Sends Helmet Legislation to Congress
Feb 14 2008 // U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters today sent legislation to Congress that she said seeks greater flexibility for states to target one of the leading causes of motorcycle deaths across the nation – riding...
Ore. Lawmakers Back Disaster Aid Bills
Feb 13 2008 // Spurred by December storms that caused millions of dollars in flood and wind damage, Oregon lawmakers are expediting a package of disaster aid bills in this special session, including one to get jobless benefits more...
Ohio Department Promotes Rossbach to Chief Regulatory Officer
Feb 13 2008 // Ohio Department of Insurance Director Mary Jo Hudson recently announced that Bill Rossbach has been named chief regulatory officer and Doug Anderson has been named chief policy officer. “These promotions will provide...
Neb. Committee Holds Hearing on Proposal to Abolish Credit Law
Feb 12 2008 // A national insurance group testified today against a bill to abolish Nebraska’s law regulating credit-based insurance scoring saying the practice benefits a majority of Nebraska consumers. The Washington, D.C.-based...
