Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Survey of Analysts Projects Healthy Underwriting Profits
Dec 23 2007 // I.I.I.’s Earlybird Forecast predicts negative premium growth but continued profitability in 2008 Next year may go down on record as one of the best insurance industry underwriting performances in the past 80 years,...
La. Insurance Regulatory Panel Approves Rate Hikes at Final Meeting
Dec 21 2007 // At its final meeting on Dec. 19, the Louisiana Insurance Rating Commission – which will officially be abolished next month – approved homeowners rate increases for two insurance carriers. The Legislature...
Congress Approves Swimming Pool Drain Safety Bill
Dec 20 2007 // Congress approved legislation this week aimed at strengthening pool safety, six months after a 6-year-old girl was seriously injured by a drain’s powerful suction. The legislation would ban the manufacture, sale or...
Bush Gets Terrorism Insurance Extension Bill to Sign
Dec 19 2007 // The U.S. House of Representatives has passed an extension to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) by a vote of 360 to 53 in a form closer to what the Bush Administration and the Senate would support than to an original...
N.D. Workers’ Comp Agency to Use Own Judges in Benefit Appeals
Dec 18 2007 // North Dakota’s workers’ compensation agency has begun hiring its own hearing officers to referee benefit disputes, a move critics say could tilt decisions against employees who are injured on the job. The move...
Marsh Names Richmond to Product Risk Consulting Team
Dec 17 2007 // Marsh has appointed Sarah Richmond as a Risk Consultant in its Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Product Risk Practice. Marsh noted that she is the “first of three new appointments to this rapidly expanding team,...
Pa. Gov. May Delay Malpractice-Fund Payments
Dec 17 2007 // Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said he is probably going to allow doctors to put off payments to the state’s medical-malpractice insurance fund as lawmakers work on legislation to extend a state subsidy that lowers...
Squabble over Mich. Drug Law Intensifies after Vioxx Settlement
Dec 17 2007 // More than 1,000 Michigan residents could end up getting part of a $4.85 billion national settlement if they or their loved ones took the painkiller Vioxx. But that hasn’t squelched a firestorm over the state’s...
California Court Rules Workers’ Comp Benefits Don’t Apply at Conference
Dec 17 2007 // The family of an employee is not entitled to workers’ compensation death benefits if the death occurs while the employer is attending an educational conference, the Court of Appeal in California has ruled. In City of...
Miss. Katrina Lawyer’s Contempt Case Reassigned to Florida Judge
Dec 14 2007 // The criminal contempt case of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs was reassigned to a Florida judge Wednesday because 16 federal judges in north Alabama recused themselves from the case. C. Roger Vinson, Northern...
Lawmaker Suggests Review of Denied Workers Comp Claims
Dec 14 2007 // North Dakota’s workers compensation agency should undertake a new review of some denied benefit claims from injured workers, a lawmaker says. Rep. George Keiser, R-Bismarck, said the review is needed because of...
Lloyd’s Comments on Florida Changing Reinsurance Collateral Rules
Dec 12 2007 // Lloyd’s Director & General Counsel Sean McGovern, called Florida’s decision to explore making changes in the collateral insurance requirements for foreign, or “alien,” reinsurers, such as...
Texas Lawmakers, Workers Criticize Court’s Liability Ruling
Dec 12 2007 // Four state lawmakers and the Texas AFL-CIO have asked the Texas Supreme Court to reverse its decision in a case they say incorrectly expands liability protections for employers under state workers’ compensation...
Study: California Workers’ Comp Insurer Needs Significant Reforms
Dec 11 2007 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund “has weak corporate governance, inadequate internal controls in various areas and a general inability to plan for the long-term,” according to an operational...
Pa. Judge Overturns $3 Million Award in Wyeth Prempro Drug Case
Dec 10 2007 // A woman who claimed that Wyeth’s hormone-replacement drug caused her breast cancer did not have sufficient evidence to show that the company acted negligently, said a judge in Pennsylvania who overturned a $3 million...
House Passes Bill to Create National Registry of Convicted Arsonists
Dec 7 2007 // Two House lawmakers from fire-struck California won approval this week for legislation to set up a national registry to track convicted arsonists. The bill, which was passed by voice vote, requires convicted arsonists to...
California Court Rules on Age Discrimination in Workers’ Comp Claim
Dec 7 2007 // The California Court of Appeals in Sacramento has, in an unanimous decision, ruled that a disabled employee’s age cannot be used to reduce workers’ compensation benefits. In January 2003, while working as a...
Pa. Gov. Vows to Hold Up Medical-Malpractice Aid
Dec 5 2007 // Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is threatening to withhold state aid to help doctors and other health care providers pay for their medical malpractice insurance unless lawmakers also act on his proposal to expand state health...
Workers’ Comp Hits Rocky Patch in W. Va. on Road to Full Privatization
Dec 5 2007 // The latest power struggle between W. Va. Gov. Joe Manchin’s administration and lawmakers spilled out into the open last week, and those who attended the final meeting of the monthly interim session got a front-row...
Alabama Senator: English Only Driver Test Will Improve Highway Safety
Dec 5 2007 // An Alabama state senator who is vice chairman of a panel studying immigration issues in Alabama said Monday he will introduce legislation to require the state driver’s license exam be given in English only. The...
