Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Personal Liability Deal with Worldcom Directors Breaks Down Following Court Ruling on Effect on Jury Award
Feb 3 2005 // A unique deal in which 10 former WorldCom directors would personally pay $18 million of a $54 million settlement to compensate investors over the company’s plunge into bankruptcy will be withdrawn, plaintiffs...
N.Y. Insurance Department Questioned Contingent Fees Years Before Spitzer Investigation Made Headlines
Feb 3 2005 // While it did not begin boiling over until last October when charges were brought against Marsh, the controversy over brokerage contingent fees has actually been simmering for more than a half dozen years in New York...
ACIC Supports Medical Provider Network Regulations
Feb 2 2005 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) supports the adoption of newly developed state regulations that implement the Medical Provider Networks (MPN) provision of California’s workers’...
PCI: TDI Study Finds Use of Credit is Fair and Accurate
Feb 1 2005 // The Texas Department of Insurance (TDI) has delivered to the state legislature its final phase of its report on insurers’ use of credit information. According to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America...
Colorado Senators KO Credit Ban
Jan 28 2005 // By a 5-2 bipartisan vote members of the Colorado Senate Business, Labor and Technology Committee rejected a measure that would have banned insurers from using credit history to underwrite and rate automobile and homeowners...
Okla. Lawmakers, Doctors and Business Leaders to Call for ‘Meaningful’ Lawsuit Reform in 2005
Jan 28 2005 // Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin and Senate Republican leaders, joined by several Oklahoma doctors and business leaders, are calling for meaningful lawsuit reform during the 2005 legislative session. Senate Republican Leader...
Md. Democrats Hit Redmer for HMO Rate Hike OK; Redmer Points to Legislators’ Approval of Tax
Jan 27 2005 // Maryland Democratic legislative leaders have castigated Insurance Commissioner Alfred Redmer for his blanket approval of a 2 percent increase in HMO premiums, saying he is playing politics with the issue to advance the...
Delaware Gov. Minner Puts Workers’ Comp Reform, Health Purchasing Pools on Her Second Term Agenda
Jan 27 2005 // Delaware Democratic Gov. Ruth Ann Minner outlined her agenda for the coming year in the first state of the state address of her second term. Her agenda includes lowering workers’ compensation costs and improving...
Maine Supreme Court Rules on Abuse Exclusion
Jan 27 2005 // Sexual abuse of a minor falls within an insurance coverage exclusion for injuries resulting from “actual or threatened abuse or molestation,” the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled recently in its first...
Insurers Call for Approval of Class Action Legislation
Jan 27 2005 // As Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) announced his intention to make class action reform legislation an immediate priority for the 109th Congress this week, the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America...
ACIC Fights Unfair Homeowners Regs on Two Fronts
Jan 26 2005 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) is fighting on two fronts against a proposed Dept. of Insurance regulation that would unfairly force many Californians to pay more than they should for homeowners...
Ill. Supreme Court Rules Against Stacking Underinsured Motorist Coverage
Jan 25 2005 // Illinois’ top court has ruled that the stacking of underinsured-motorist coverage (UIM) was clearly prohibited by two companies’ insurance policies at issue in the case it decided. The Supreme Court’s...
Okla. Lawmaker Pushing Workers’ Comp Reform
Jan 25 2005 // Freshman Oklahoma lawmaker, State Rep. Ryan McMullen, D-Burns Flat, recently filed several proposals addressing workers’ compensation reform in that state. McMullen announced the introduction of three bills he...
R&M Report on Financial Services Regulators
Jan 24 2005 // Dublin-based Research and Markets announced that it has issued a new report covering the major national and international institutions that regulate the financial services industry. R&M said, “this major new...
Judge Says Criminal Trial in Deadly Nightclub Fire Case Still a Year or More Away
Jan 24 2005 // Owners of a Warwick, Rhode Island nightclub where 100 people died in a fire and the former manager of the band whose pyrotechnics sparked the blaze won’t stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges for at least a...
Maine Motorists Angered by Uninsured Rule
Jan 24 2005 // Some Maine motorists are angered over a new law under which motor vehicle registrations can be suspended if an insurance company notifies the state of a motorist canceling or failing to pay insurance. So far, more than...
MD. LAWMAKERS OVERRIDE VETO:
Jan 24 2005 // Insurance companies, claiming that the measure would have only minimal effect on insurance prices for doctors, got their wish as Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R) vetoed a reform bill passed earlier this month by lawmakers....
DELAWARE’S DENN SEEKS CREDIT SCORE BAN:
Jan 24 2005 // New Delaware Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn announced he will support a bill being introduced that seeks to ban the use of credit scores by insurers in personal lines insurance rating. State Senator Margaret Rose Henry...
Court Knocks Out Mass. Limits on Banks’ Sales of Insurance
Jan 24 2005 // Banks should have an easier time selling insurance in Massachusetts thanks to a recent federal court ruling granting supremacy to federal rules over more restrictive state laws governing banks’ sales of insurance...
Insurer Votes Not to Renew N.H. Woman’s Umbrella Over Political Activity
Jan 24 2005 // Helen Johnston is an 80-year-old retired pediatrician who hardly considers herself much of a risk for being sued. That’s not how her insurance company sees it, however. Johnston is losing extra coverage she bought...
