Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Federal Cyber Privacy Bill Calls for Fines, Prison for Executives’ Violations
Nov 2 2018 // A senior Democratic U.S. senator on Thursday unveiled draft legislation that would allow hefty fines and as much as 20-year prison terms for executives who violate privacy and cybersecurity standards. Senator Ron Wyden...
Crashed Lion Air Boeing Jet Previously Had Problems with Altitude, Speed Sensors
Nov 2 2018 // The Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia earlier this week had experienced problems with the sensors used to calculate altitude and speed on its previous flight, an issue that could help explain why...
AIG Executives Outline Path to Underwriting Profit in 2019
Nov 2 2018 // “We do see it coming. We expect that in 2019 we’re going to be in an underwriting profit position, not a great one, but a profit. And we’ll move from there to a great one.” So said Brian...
Global Insurance M&A Deals Total Value Soars, Volume Dips in First Half
Oct 31 2018 // Deal value for global insurance mergers and acquisitions was up $44.4 billion in the first six months of 2018, driven by a slew of megadeals that pushed value to its highest first-half total since the financial crisis,...
Former Pastor Sentenced to Prison for Setting Fire to Apartment in Insurance Scam
Oct 30 2018 // The former pastor of a Baltimore, Md., church has been sentenced to three years in prison for setting fire to an apartment he rented in Southeast Washington in a plan to collect insurance money. The announcement was made...
Update: Lion Air Jet Plunged at 350 Miles Per Hour Before Crash, Data Show
Oct 30 2018 // More than a day after a brand-new Boeing Co. 737 Max jet flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea, the search for the plane failed to yield much as investigators continued the grim task of uncovering...
Top 10 Market Conduct Actions Facing P/C Insurers
Oct 30 2018 // Untimely claims handling and failure to provide required compliant claims, underwriting, and policyholder service disclosures are the U.S. insurance industry’s top compliance shortcomings. That’s according to a...
How High Customer Expectations Raise the Bar for Insurance Industry
Oct 30 2018 // Record high customer satisfaction among auto insurance customers is clearly good news for customers, especially at a time when their overall customer experience is being tested by the rising cost of auto insurance. For...
U.S. Safety Agency Probing Mercedes-Benz Recall Notice Practices
Oct 30 2018 // Mercedes-Benz USA is under investigation by U.S. safety regulators who say the luxury-auto maker may be taking too long to send safety recall notices to car owners and inform the government. The National Highway Traffic...
Supreme Court to Weigh If Government Agencies Entitled to Challenge Patents
Oct 29 2018 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to take up a dispute involving a small Alabama company that accused the U.S. Postal Service of infringing its patented mail processing system and improperly convincing a federal...
AFL Insurance Brokers Finds Good Strategic, Cultural Fit with U.S. MGA Zodiac
Oct 29 2018 // AFL Insurance Brokers, the London-based Lloyd’s broker, was looking for an MGA platform in the United States and found the perfect partner last month when it purchased Zodiac Insurance Services, which specializes in...
U.S. Forming Strike Force to Combat Appalachia Opioid Abuse
Oct 29 2018 // U.S. Justice Department officials say a new law enforcement strike force is being formed to combat opioid abuse in Appalachia. Assistant Attorney General Brian A. Benczkowski says the Appalachian Regional Prescription...
Class Action Claiming Wells Fargo Made Robocalls Seeks Triple Damages
Oct 29 2018 // A proposed class action lawsuit in San Francisco federal court accuses Wells Fargo of making tens of thousands of automatically dialed, or “robo,” calls to cell phones without consumers’ consent. Filed on...
Super Typhoon Yutu Threatens Philippines’ Most Populous Island
Oct 28 2018 // Super Typhoon Yutu could rip into eastern Luzon in the Philippines on Tuesday, extending the toll of destruction it left in the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands earlier this week. Yutu was about 731 miles (1,176 kilometers)...
Army Corps, Texas Officials Propose Sweeping Hurricane Protection Plan
Oct 26 2018 // Following years of research, studies and public debate, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — in partnership with the state’s General Land Office — has recommended a multi-billion-dollar project that would protect...
Better Underwriting, Lower Taxes Behind The Hartford’s Strong Q3 Results
Oct 26 2018 // The Hartford reported third quarter 2018 net profit of $427 million compared with $145 million in third quarter 2017. The $282 million increase was due to higher commercial lines, personal lines, group benefits and mutual...
New Jersey Insurance Broker Stole Nearly $1M While Selling Fake Health Insurance
Oct 26 2018 // An insurance broker who stole nearly $1 million while continuing to sell health care coverage he knew was fake has been sentenced to 18 months in prison. David Clark, 75, of Morristown, N.J., previously pleaded guilty...
Injury Rates Jump at Coal Giant Murray’s West Virginia Mines
Oct 26 2018 // Injury rates have more than doubled at five West Virginia coal mines acquired by Murray Energy Corp. in 2013, according to a Reuters review of federal data, as the firm sharply increased the amount of coal produced per...
Climate Change Impact Assessment Looks at Risk, Readiness Around U.S.
Oct 25 2018 // Low risk, but low readiness. That’s the assessment for Long Beach, Calif., a city that’s close to my heart. For those who love numbers, the city has a risk score of 49.48, and a readiness score of 47.01. Not...
U.S. Making Some Progress Against Opioid Epidemic, Says Health Chief
Oct 25 2018 // The number of U.S. drug overdose deaths has begun to level off after years of relentless increases driven by the opioid epidemic, health secretary Alex Azar said Tuesday, cautioning it’s too soon to declare...
