Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Reinsurer Arch to Help Freddie Mac Cover Mortgage Losses
Nov 13 2013 // Freddie Mac bought insurance covering a portion of losses on a pool of home loans from Arch Capital Group Ltd.’s Arch Reinsurance Ltd. unit, expanding risk- sharing efforts by the government-backed company. The...
New Global Ratings Agency to Vie with Moody’s, S&P, Fitch
Nov 13 2013 // Credit ratings organisations from five countries are launching a new global agency, touting it as an alternative to the Big Three agencies which they say no longer meet the needs of the new globalised world. In a statement...
Supreme Court Justices Probe Private Company Whistleblower Protections
Nov 12 2013 // U.S. Supreme Court justices on Tuesday signaled they may have some difficulty deciding whether employees at private firms that contract with public companies are subject to whistleblower protections. The justices appeared...
U.S. Risk Rebrands PL Division, Launches Program for Texas Lawyers
Nov 12 2013 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group, Inc., a nationwide managing general agency and surplus lines, has launched a new program for Texas lawyers’ professional liability through its U.S. Risk Pro division. This admitted program,...
Allstate’s Esurance Hopes Bundling Auto, Home Coverages Will Separate It From Geico
Nov 12 2013 // Esurance, the online car insurance seller owned by Allstate Corp., is betting that bundling auto and home policies will help it compete with Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Geico unit and Progressive Corp. Esurance started...
Food Stamp Gridlock Hurting Chance of Congress Passing Farm, Crop Insurance Bill
Nov 12 2013 // The chances of the U.S. Congress passing a five-year farm bill by year’s end are a little better than 50/50 given the gridlock over food stamps for the poor, a top farm policy expert said on Monday. “There is a...
Haiyan Worse for Philippines Than Sandy for U.S.; Only 10-15% of Loss Insured
Nov 12 2013 // Destruction from Typhoon Haiyan, which flattened buildings and unleashed storm surges that may have killed 10,000 people, could be several times worse for the Philippines economy than superstorm Sandy was for the...
Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Upper Big Branch Mine Setttlement Payouts
Nov 11 2013 // A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit by relatives of three men killed in the Upper Big Branch mine disaster who claimed that Alpha Natural Resources failed to pay them each $1.5 million as promised under a settlement...
Doctor Training Questioned in Wake of Robotic-Surgery Deaths, Injuries
Nov 11 2013 // A rising number of reports about deaths, injuries and malfunctions linked to the robotic surgery system made by Intuitive Surgical Inc. may pressure hospitals to bolster training for doctors using the $1.5 million...
Alabama Oil Train Derailment Raises New Crude-by-Rail Safety Questions
Nov 11 2013 // The second explosive oil-train derailment this year, which has finally burned out in rural Alabama, may raise new questions about the safety of the crude-by-rail boom, pointing to problems beyond those that surfaced...
Why Honoring Those Who Fought in the ‘Great War’ Remains Important
Nov 11 2013 // Time has taken all those who actually fought in World War I, as well as almost all the people who lived through it. We now examine that war as history, just as we examine other conflicts that have broken out over the...
Appeals Court Blocks Obamacare Contraceptive Mandate
Nov 10 2013 // A requirement of President Barack Obama’s health-care law that group insurance plans cover contraceptives was ordered blocked by a federal appeals court, the first such ban on enforcement of the mandate. The 2-1...
Oil Tank Train Derails in Alabama; Cars Erupt in Flames
Nov 10 2013 // Several oil tank cars that burst into flames after a train derailed in rural Alabama were expected to keep burning into Saturday, potentially reigniting the push for tougher regulation of the boom in moving oil by...
U.S. Sen. Toomey Cites Pennsylvania Residents Losing Health Insurance
Nov 8 2013 // U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey said thousands of Pennsylvanians are contacting his office with complaints about losing their health insurance because of the federal overhaul, while state insurance regulators put the number of people...
Nevada Mine Pollution Deal Brings Residents $19.5M
Nov 8 2013 // Rural neighbors of an abandoned World War II-era copper mine that has leaked toxic chemicals in northern Nevada for decades have won up to a $19.5 million settlement from companies they accused of covering up the...
Federal Safety Regulators Criticized for Missing Bus Safety Hazards
Nov 8 2013 // U.S. bus regulators are overlooking or not catching serious safety hazards before fatal crashes and need to change their auditing practices, the National Transportation Safety Board said. The U.S. Federal Motor Carrier...
Endurance Specialty Names CEO of U.S. Insurance Division
Nov 7 2013 // Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd., a Bermuda-based specialty provider of property/casualty insurance and reinsurance, announced Douglas Worman will join the company on Nov. 11 as executive vice president and chief...
AIG Settles Dispute Over Real Estate Executive Pay for $274M
Nov 7 2013 // American International Group Inc. has agreed to settle a $274 million lawsuit by a former executive who said the insurer refused to pay him during the financial crisis in 2008. The settlement came as a trial was due to...
Insurers’ Annual Incurred A&E Losses Rose 12% in 2012: A.M. Best
Nov 6 2013 // While generally not a material drag on the U.S. property/casualty industry’s earnings, industry losses from asbestos and environmental (A&E) claims resumed an upward climb in 2012, according to a new A.M. Best...
ING to Speed up Reorganization after Revised Deal with EU
Nov 6 2013 // ING Groep NV, the biggest Dutch financial-services company, will complete its reorganization two years earlier than planned after winning regulators’ permission to combine its Japanese insurance unit with European...
