Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Commissioner Appoints Executive Team
Mar 1 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has named his 14-member executive team at the Department of Insurance. Earlier in February, Poizner was criticized for naming insurance industry representative, Bill...
R.I. Judge Orders Cleanup by Former Lead Paint Manufacturers
Feb 28 2007 // A Rhode Island judge has ordered three former lead paint manufacturers to clean up contamination in Rhode Island and said he would appoint a special master to advise him on exactly what the companies should be required to...
Court Throws Out “Light” Cigarette Law Suits in La., Ill.
Feb 28 2007 // Suits filed against two cigarette makers over the marketing of “light” cigarettes have been thrown out by a federal appeals court. Earlier this month, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of...
Mo. House Proposal Offers Broader Incentives for Long-term Care Insurance
Feb 28 2007 // The Missouri House gave initial approval earlier this week to a bill aimed at encouraging more Missourians to purchase long-term care insurance. The measure by Rep. Chuck Portwood, R-Ballwin, raises the income tax...
Industry: Federal Terrorism Insurance Still Vital to National Security
Feb 28 2007 // Insurance industry advocates urged Congress today to ensure the availability of terrorism risk insurance through a continued federal government role and to examine long-term solutions before the current backstop...
R.I. Lawmaker Targets Hospital Errors
Feb 27 2007 // Between 44,000 and 98,000 patients die each year in U.S. hospitals because of mistakes, infections and other adverse situations. That’s more deaths than those caused by breast cancer, AIDS or car accidents. Most of...
Property Taxes, Insurance Among Top Issues for Fla. Lawmakers
Feb 27 2007 // This could be the people’s year in Tallahassee, if you believe state lawmakers. “There is a feeling out there that we in government aren’t listening, that in the sound and fury of partisan politics, the...
N.Y. Gov. Spitzer Announces Workers’ Comp Reform Accord
Feb 27 2007 // New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and legislative leaders announced an agreement to reform the state’s workers’ compensation system that has the backing of business and labor. Under the agreement, benefits for...
ABI Responds to UK Treasury’s Travel Insurance Regulation Proposals
Feb 26 2007 // A report from the UK’s Treasury Department, which calls for more regulation and control over travel insurance sold through tour operators and travel agents, has brought a response from the Association of British...
Winds of change
Feb 26 2007 // The lack of markets and affordable windstorm coverage for both homeowners and businesses has reached crisis proportions in some states. Hopefully this legislation will spark serious policy debate in Congress on this...
Maryland mulls how to keep property insurers on coast
Feb 26 2007 // Alarmed that homeowners on Maryland’s coasts may one day be cut off from home insurance, state lawmakers are mulling new rules prohibiting insurers from pulling out of areas they deem risky. But insurers met with...
New Mass. Commissioner Burnes accustomed to being the judge
Feb 26 2007 // Superior Court Justice Burnes is well aware that politics comes into play in Bay State insurance regulation The new insurance commissioner for Massachusetts thinks her years of experience in a judge’s robe will serve...
Third-generation industry executive shares insight on regulatory matters
Feb 26 2007 // Sullivan discusses reinsurance collateralization, surplus lines regulation reform Gerald Sullivan, chairman of Los Angeles-based The Sullivan Group, has been said to have grown up reading insurance rating manuals instead...
The Commissioners: Jim Poolman
Feb 26 2007 // Poolman says regulatory modernization, agent licensing are priorities Currently serving in his second term as North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, Jim Poolman has focused his efforts on working for and protecting insurance...
Katrina lawsuits: Are the winds of fortune changing for insurers?
Feb 26 2007 // In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina when it became apparent that property losses would total billions of dollars, the insurance industry was understandably concerned that courts in Mississippi and Louisiana...
Bullies and barons
Feb 26 2007 // We’re looking a robber baron in the face. State Farm is not a responsible corporate citizen.” That’s Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood attacking State Farm after the insurer, still reeling from...
Miss. AG Hood picks fight with State Farm over pullback
Feb 26 2007 // Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood said he will seek legislation aimed at blocking State Farm Insurance Cos. from refusing to write new homeowners and commercial policies in the hurricane-battered state. Hood’s...
Alabama licenses first captive
Feb 26 2007 // The Alabama Department of Insurance has licensed its first captive insurance company under legislation enacted in 2006 and signed into law by Gov. Bob Riley. Chantilly Risk Management, which is located in Montgomery, is...
Insurers halt move to block Fla. emergency rule
Feb 26 2007 // Insurance companies dropped a court challenge to a new Florida rule preventing them from immediately canceling some homeowners policies or raising rates. The rule, which took effect Jan. 31, is a stopgap until a new law...
Ariz. lawmakers move to raise burden of proof on ER suits
Feb 26 2007 // The Arizona Senate has narrowly approved a medical malpractice bill to raise the bar on the legal burden of proof required for malpractice lawsuits involving emergency medical care. The Senate approved the bill 16-12,...
