Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. Jury Faults Doctor in HMO Death Suit
Aug 12 2004 // A jury awarded $1 million to the family of a man whose stomach cancer was overlooked by a Norwood doctor in a malpractice case that lawyers say exposes physicians’ incentives to limit care to HMO patients. Kimiyoshi...
MASSACHUSETTS MEDICAL COSTS STAY LOW:
Aug 9 2004 // The average medical payment per claim for the care of injured workers in Massachusetts rose 13 percent in the most recent period but still remained the lowest of the 12 states analyzed in a study by the Cambridge-based...
Mass. Gov. Romney Signs Bill Changing Effective Date of Auto Rates to April 1
Aug 3 2004 // Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has signed into law a bill changing from January 1 to April 1 the date that annual private passenger auto insurance rates take effect. The measure had been backed by the Massachusetts...
Proposed Mass. Auto Plan a ‘Trojan Horse’ Designed to Fail, Charges Consumer Advocate
Aug 2 2004 // The current proposal to change the Massachusetts auto insurance residual market to an assigned risk plan is “a Trojan Horse proposal designed to fail in order to produce an endless stream of anti-consumer measures in...
ProMutual Program Targets Baby Delivery Emergencies
Jul 28 2004 // ProMutual Group, the Boston-based provider of medical malpractice insurance in the Northeast, has launched a new patient safety program aimed at reducing the incidence of shoulder dystocia. Shoulder dystocia is a birth...
Commerce Group Reports Q2, Year-to-Date Results
Jul 26 2004 // The Commerce Group, Inc. (NYSE:CGI) of Webster, Mass. today reported 2004 second quarter net earnings were $37.4 million, or $1.14 per diluted share, compared to net earnings of $71.5 million or $2.22 per diluted share for...
Mass. Commissioner Replaces 5 on Auto Plan Board
Jul 26 2004 // The Massachusetts high risk plan currently in the throes of changing from a reinsurance plan to an assigned risk plan now has five new governing committee members. Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has...
Industry, Consumer Interests Square-Off Over Mass. Auto High Risk Plan Changes
Jul 23 2004 // A parade of industry representatives urged Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler to approve rules to transform the state’s auto insurance high risk plan into an assigned risk model, but consumer groups...
Mass. Legislation Aims to Eliminate Confusion in Auto Insurance Billing
Jul 22 2004 // The Massachusetts Legislature has approved legislation that insurance agents hope will help eliminate confusion in auto insurance billing. The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday joined the House in approving House Bill...
Mass. to Hear High Risk Auto Plan Tomorrow
Jul 21 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has scheduled a public hearing for July 22 to hear testimony on proposed rule changes to the state’s high risk auto facility. The changes were approved by...
Mass. Workers’ Comp Medical Costs Rise But Still Remain Among Lowest in WCRI Study
Jul 21 2004 // The average medical payment per claim for the care of injured workers in Massachusetts rose 13 percent in the most recent period studied, according to a new report by the Cambridge-based Workers Compensation Research...
MASS. TO HEAR HIGH RISK AUTO PLAN:
Jul 19 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has scheduled a public hearing for July 22 to hear testimony on proposed rule changes to the state’s high risk auto facility. Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR),...
Trio of Mass. Agencies Agree to Provide Long-Term Care Disclosures to Residents
Jul 13 2004 // Three Massachusetts insurance agencies have agreed to each pay $2,500 in civil penalties and provide legally required information about long-term care insurance, under the terms of three separate assurances of...
At NAMIC, The Door’s Wide Open to Companies of All Sizes
Jul 5 2004 // Chairman Tim Hegarty Explains How His Trade Group Serves Big and Small Alike What happens when you put giants like State Farm, AIG, Nationwide and Liberty Mutual in a room with tiny farm mutuals like Husbandsmans Mutual,...
Passing in the Slow Lane
Jul 5 2004 // A number of years ago, very good friends of mine rallied their neighbors in an effort to improve their elementary school. With two young children of their own, they had a vested interest in a better school. But they and...
Mass. Seeks to Shake Image as Regulatory Outcast
Jul 5 2004 // Massachusetts officials, moving deliberately to change the image of the state as a regulatory nightmare for insurance companies and to re-make its systems to look more like those found elsewhere, are making progress even...
People and Places
Jul 5 2004 // Sidney Ferenc Sidney R. Ferenc and Steven M. Menzies were recently elected to new management positions by the board of directors of Applied Underwriters, headquartered in San Francisco. Ferenc assumes the position of...
Fireman’s Fund Threatens Exit from Mass. Auto Market
Jul 1 2004 // The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies has given notice to Massachusetts officials that it intends to withdraw from the state’s personal automobile insurance market on Dec. 31, 2004, because of continuing...
New Mass. Auto Plan On Way to Commissioner; New Safe Driver Plan Questioned
Jun 29 2004 // The board that oversees the Massachusetts auto insurance high risk facility, Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR), voted 11-2 in favor of final rules to convert the plan to an assigned risk plan on June 29. The CAR governing...
Woronoco Bank to Buy Colton Agency in Mass.
Jun 25 2004 // Woronoco Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Woronoco Savings Bank, has signed an agreement to acquire The Colton Agency, Inc., an insurance agency located in Westfield, Mass. The bank plans to merge the agency with its...
