Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Anti-Fax Law Exemption Bill Passes House Committee

Jun 29 2004 // Federal legislation that would exempt existing business relationships from anti-fax laws, including existing agent-client relationships, has advanced in the House and has been introduced in the Senate said the Independent...

Fla. CFO Applauds Gov. Bush, Lawmakers for Enacting Consumer Friendly Legislation Effective July 1

Jun 29 2004 // Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher commended state policymakers this week for passing important legislation during the 2004 Session aimed at helping insurance consumers. After hearing from thousands of...

ACIC Disappointed in Calif. Supreme Court Action

Jun 29 2004 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) expressed disappointment in the June 28 decision by the California Supreme Court not to review a key case related to insurance rate regulation in the state. The...

R.I. Lawmakers Recess After Approving Lead Paint Delay and New Health Insurance Post

Jun 28 2004 // The Rhode Island General Assembly went into recess early Saturday, June 26, after approving dozens of bills that included health insurance reforms, a delay in lead paint mandates for landlords and development of a new...

Workers’ Comp Rates Decline; Rate Regulation Still an Issue for Lawmakers

Jun 28 2004 // Despite reductions in workers’ comp insurance premiums, California lawmakers will continue to debate the merits of rate regulation. After years of double-digit rate increases, many companies have filed with the...

N.J. Commissioner: Auto Insurance Market Recovering; Drivers Reap Benefits

Jun 28 2004 // New Jersey Banking and Insurance Commissioner Holly Bakke predicted recently that positive financial results for a majority of companies in the auto insurance marketplace will continue to produce returns for New Jersey...

Wyoming Committees Work on Special Session Bills

Jun 25 2004 // More than 30 bills have been drawn up for consideration in July’s special session on medical malpractice insurance. State House Speaker Fred Parady, R-Rock Springs, said he expects more to come, although many bills...

PCI Supports Regulators’ Decision to Further Address Sarbanes-Oxley Concerns

Jun 24 2004 // At its summer meeting, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) agreed to reconsider proposed amendments to its Model Audit Rule. At a public hearing on June 14, the NAIC/AICPA Working Group decided to...

Keenan Appoints Bonner to New Advisory Board

Jun 24 2004 // Torrance, Calif.-based Keenan, one of the largest privately held brokerage firms in the state, announced the appointment of Dale E. Bonner, Esq. to its Advisory Board of thought leaders to bolster its strategy and provide...

Insurers Mount Legal Challenge to Multi-state Credit Scoring Study; Ask States to Withdraw Data Call

Jun 23 2004 // Two national insurance company trade organizations have expressed legal concerns about the recently initiated multi-state study on credit-based insurance scores and have asked regulators in eight states to withdraw their...

R.I. Session Nears End with Med-Mal Push

Jun 23 2004 // As the end of the 2004 legislative session draws near in Rhode Island, Rep. Peter T. Ginaitt says he is pushing hard for the passage of his legislation to change some of the state laws governing medical malpractice...

NAMIC Renews Call to Eliminate Regulation By Litigation

Jun 23 2004 // “Lawmakers, regulators and courts must ensure that markets function freely and that laws governing those markets are reliable,” declared National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) Legal and...

High Court Says ERISA Preempts State Lawsuits

Jun 22 2004 // In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that patients cannot sue their health maintenance organization under state law for refusing to pay for medical treatment recommended under a doctor’s...

ACIC Opposes Rate Regulation Bill

Jun 22 2004 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) is opposed to legislation that would establish a mandated rate regulation system for workers’ compensation insurance companies. “The bill would force...

PCI: Tenn. Auto Parts Regulation Would Make Consumers ‘Double Losers’

Jun 22 2004 // According to the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI), a Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance proposal requiring written permission from auto policyholders or third-party claimants to use...

The Vision Thing

Jun 21 2004 // As I write this Editor’s Note, the casket carrying our 40th president, Ronald Wilson Reagan, is winding its way to its final resting place near the shores of the Pacific Ocean. The timing seems somehow fitting...

Ohio Moves to Stem Flow of Asbestos, Silica Dust Litigation

Jun 21 2004 // Spurred by a struggling local manufacturing sector which blamed its hard times partly on bankruptcies due to asbestos litigation, Ohio became the first state in the country to place strict limits on plaintiffs’...

South Carolina Lawmakers Back Homeowners’ Flex-band Rating

Jun 21 2004 // Concurring with a series of House amendments, the South Carolina State Senate approved a bill recently that creates a flex-band rating bill for homeowners’ insurance, similar to that enacted for the state’s...

FLORIDA CFO WARNS OF HURRICANE PREPAREDNESS:

Jun 21 2004 // With explosive state population growth and experts predicting the formation of more than 12 named Atlantic storms, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher issued a warning recently to Floridians to prepare....

Gaining Wisdom Through Non-Subscription’s Choices and Challenges

Jun 21 2004 // Non-subscription. It’s been around for over 90 years, and has come into its own since the late 1980’s. We’ve seen that non-subscription provides Texas businesses with a choice that saved many employers...