Latest Legislation Headlines
All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York Agents Lose Court Battle over Compensation Disclosure
Dec 5 2010 // New York agents failed to make their case that insurance regulators cannot require agents and brokers to disclose their commissions, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. That decision by Supreme Court Justice Richard M....
Employers With Foreign Labor Face Increased Liability
Dec 5 2010 // Insurance Considerations for Agents Insuring Agricultural Employer Every state has been impacted by Arizona’s immigration law, as there is now a cry for immigration reform. Employers who hire a questionable workforce...
Texas Likely Will Seek to Protect Its Piece of SL Tax Pie
Dec 5 2010 // The federal financial services reform act signed by President Barack Obama in July 2010 contained a provision reforming the way surplus lines insurance premiums are reported and taxed. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance...
California Self-Insured Group Declared in Default
Dec 5 2010 // The Contractors Access Program of California (CAP), a self insured group, has been declared in default due to insufficient funding required for continued operation, California’s Department of Industrial Relations...
Feds Erred in Loss Ratio Decision
Dec 5 2010 // Congress May Need to Intervene After months of discussions, the interim final rule on Medical Loss Ratios (MLRs) released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was a huge disappointment. The rule...
Missouri Lawmaker Wants State Liability for Elk
Dec 2 2010 // A Missouri lawmaker wants the state to be liable for damage caused to crops or cars by wild elk. Republican Rep. Casey Guernsey is a farmer from northwest Missouri — far away from where the Department of Conservation...
How BP’s Gulf Oil Disaster Costs Could Double
Dec 1 2010 // Analysts’ dividend forecasts point to steady recovery BP, analysts, may be underestimating legal charges BP has history of low-balling long-term cost of disasters “Gross negligence,” punitive damages not...
Federal Judge Dismisses Challenge to Obama Health Care Law
Dec 1 2010 // A federal judge in Virginia Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit challenging the landmark healthcare law championed by President Barack Obama, upholding key provisions that require health insurance coverage. The challenge, one of...
Insurer Wants Ex-Judge Off Mississippi Lawyer Case
Nov 30 2010 // An insurance company wants former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Oliver Diaz kicked off a lawsuit involving imprisoned former attorney Paul Minor. Minor, meanwhile, also thinks the federal judge in the case should step...
Mississippi Judge Asks Court to Restore His Immunity
Nov 30 2010 // A Mississippi judge is asking a federal appeals court to restore his immunity from being sued over claims that he knowingly making false claims to authorities. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals scheduled arguments for...
Washington Regulator Wants to Review Health Insurer Surpluses
Nov 30 2010 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is asking state lawmakers to preserve his authority to scrutinize health insurance rates, boost transparency, and to let him — for the first time — consider some...
Judge Upholds West Virginia Mine Accident Reporting Rule
Nov 29 2010 // A Kanawha County Circuit Court judge has upheld a state law giving coal mine operators 15 minutes to tell regulators about fires and other serious accidents. Judge Tod Kaufman’s ruling came in a case involving...
State Legislators Adopt Surplus Lines Tax Compact, Compliance Resolution
Nov 24 2010 // The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) has adopted a revised version of the Surplus Lines Multi-State Insurance Compact (SLIMPACT) as well as a resolution urging the states to amend their insurance laws...
UK MGAs Gather to Support New Managing General Agents’ Association
Nov 24 2010 // The UK’s insurance industry has spawned numerous professional and trade associations over the years, but, oddly enough, one of the most important sectors, the managing general agents, or MGA’s, who underwrite...
Swiss Re: Investment Managers Face ‘New, Challenging Environment’
Nov 23 2010 // Swiss Re’s latest sigma study, #5/2010, – “Insurance investment in a challenging global environment” – warns that a “low yield environment coupled with tighter regulatory standards could...
New York Agents Lose Court Battle over Compensation Disclosure
Nov 22 2010 // New York agents failed to make their case that insurance regulators cannot require agents and brokers to disclose their commissions, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. That just-released decision by Supreme Court Justice...
Calif. Court Rules Federal Proceedings Equivalent to CGL-Covered Lawsuit
Nov 22 2010 // The California Supreme Court has ruled that the term “suit” in a comprehensive general liability policy includes federal administrative adjudicative proceedings before an administrative law judge of the U.S....
Health Insurance Brokers May Ask Congress to Protect Commissions
Nov 22 2010 // As insurance brokers feared, the Obama Administration has not exempted broker commissions from the formula for the medical loss ratio that health insurers must adhere to beginning in 2011. Brokers say they may ask Congress...
Texas Likely Will Seek to Protect Its Piece of Surplus Lines Tax Pie
Nov 19 2010 // The federal financial services reform act signed by President Barack Obama in July 2010 contained a provision reforming the way surplus lines insurance premiums are reported and taxed. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance...
Forfeiture Hearing Set in Ex-Pennsylvania Judge’s Fraud Conviction
Nov 19 2010 // A federal court forfeiture hearing is set in the case of a former Pennsylvania Superior Court judge convicted of insurance fraud. Michael Joyce, of Millcreek Township, is serving a 46-month prison sentence for collecting...
