Latest Legislation Headlines

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

California Legislature not Hesitant to Act on Insurance Issues

Oct 22 2012 // Dysfunctional. Inefficient, Ineffective. Slow. Partisan. Irrelevant. These are terms that regularly appear on editorial pages and political blogs to describe the California Legislature. It is true that when the Legislature...

Rowe High on Reform

Oct 22 2012 // State Fund President and CEO Tom Rowe, who gave a speech in mid October at the opening of Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of California’s, inaugural InsurFEST in San Diego Calif., has a lot of confidence in...

As Florida Weighs 6.1% Workers’ Comp Hike, Legislators Urged to Act

Oct 18 2012 // A proposed statewide average 6.1 percent increase in Florida’s workers’ compensation rates could spur the first major legislative changes in the state’s system since 2003. The likely targets of reforms...

Correction: Work Comp Premiums in Texas Drop by 49% Since 2005

Oct 17 2012 // Texas employers are seeing a major reduction in workers’ compensation insurance premiums, an insurance trade group reports. The Insurance Council of Texas (ICT) says reforms in House Bill 7, passed in 2005, and...

Hospital, Physician Professional Liability Undergoing Major Change: Aon

Oct 17 2012 // The way health care is delivered and financed is undergoing major change, and this is reshaping the risks that hospitals and physicians face on a daily basis. Among other challenges, hospital risk managers are grappling...

Oklahoma Lawmaker Examining Insurance Options for Career Tech Students

Oct 16 2012 // Oklahoma State Rep. Joe Dorman wants to find out what insurance options could be made available for career technology students in Oklahoma. In announcement released by the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Dorman, D-Rush...

Uncertainty Marks Federal Regulation of Compounding Pharmacies

Oct 15 2012 // The deadly meningitis outbreak linked to contaminated pain injections has prompted calls for tighter federal regulation of compounding pharmacies, which have periodically been blamed for crippling and sometimes fatal...

State Fund Chief Holds High Expectations for Calif. Workers’ Comp

Oct 14 2012 // If all goes well, workers’ compensation reform in California may yield even greater savings than originally believed. That is according to State Fund President and CEO Tom Rowe, who gave the keynote speech on Friday...

U.S. Judge OKs $71.5M Dewey & LeBouef Bankruptcy Deal

Oct 11 2012 // A U.S. bankruptcy judge approved a $71.5 million settlement on Tuesday between former partners of Dewey & LeBoeuf and the estate of the law firm whose demise in May constituted the largest law-firm bankruptcy in U.S....

Incoming Florida House Speaker Wants Citizens to Wait on Lawmakers

Oct 10 2012 // The incoming Florida House speaker is asking the chairman of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. to postpone a key depopulation strategy to give lawmakers a chance to review it. Speaker-designate Will...

India’s Battered Insurers May Need More than Foreign Investment

Oct 10 2012 // India’s proposal to allow more foreign investment in its $41 billion insurance business provides a lifeline for an industry starved of capital and squeezed by regulation – but it may not pass parliament and it...

Barclays Bank Shows Retail Intent with Takeover of ING Direct

Oct 10 2012 // Barclays’ new chief executive set the course firmly towards retail banking on Tuesday with his first deal since replacing Bob Diamond – the takeover of ING’s British savings and loan business and its 1.5...

Exxon Hit With New Lawsuit Over Yellowstone Spill

Oct 9 2012 // More than a dozen eastern Montana landowners have filed a lawsuit against Exxon Mobil Corp. claiming the company ignored warnings before a pipeline break that spilled an estimated 1,500 barrels of crude oil into the...

Utah Lawmaker Mulls Climate Concerns in Wildfire Bill

Oct 9 2012 // At the request of a youth group, a Republican Utah lawmaker plans to address concerns about climate change in a bill dealing with wildfires. State Rep. Kraig Powell of Heber City has requested the drafting of legislation...

Gulf States Pressure Obama Over BP Spill Settlement Funds

Oct 8 2012 // Senators from the U.S. Gulf Coast urged President Barack Obama on Friday to ensure that any legal settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill does not undermine a recently passed law that would funnel billions of...

Court Rules New York Shooting Victim Can Sue Gun Maker

Oct 8 2012 // A Buffalo man who was shot nearly a decade ago can sue the manufacturer, the distributor and the dealer of the semi-automatic pistol used to shoot him, a New York state appeals court ruled on Friday. Attorneys for Daniel...

Mass. Court Rules on CGL Independent Contractor Exclusion

Oct 8 2012 // A Massachusetts court recently ruled in favor of insurer Lloyd’s in a dispute over a commercial property and general liability policy excluding coverage for independent contractors. The insured, a property...

Will Regulatory Reform Trigger Doomsday for Captives?

Oct 8 2012 // If you’re startled by this headline, you’re not alone. Until recently, the words “reform” and “captive” were rarely used in the same sentence. That’s because captive insurance...

Calif. Workers’ Comp Reform Law at ‘Halftime’

Oct 8 2012 // Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of articles to look at California’s workers’ compensation reform law in detail and what must be done to implement that law by Jan. 1, 2013. More articles in...

Alabama Senior Driver Credits

Oct 8 2012 // Alabama senior citizens will have easier access to courses that can qualify them for automobile insurance premium credits under a new state law that allows them to take the courses online. The courses test older...