Latest USA Headlines

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

Washington Weighs First Abortion Insurance Mandate In US

Mar 25 2013 // In 1970, Washington became the first – and remains the only – state in the country to legalize elective abortions by a popular vote. A generation later, and 40 years removed from the landmark United States Supreme...

Ruling Against News Aggregator Could Affect Copyright ‘Fair Use’

Mar 25 2013 // A federal judge concluded that an Internet news clipping service essentially resold stories from The Associated Press, saying in a decision released last Thursday that the ability of news organizations to perform “an...

Record Crop Claims Fuel Debate Over Government Subsidies for Farmers

Mar 25 2013 // Farmers will be paid a record $16 billion in crop insurance claims for 2012 because of the widespread drought, a staggering amount that has critics calling for changes to what they say is an inefficient taxpayer subsidy...

Lobbyists Keep Battling As Obamacare Turns 3

Mar 25 2013 // Eight months before President Barack Obama’s health care law goes prime time, a confederation of industry and business groups is ramping up its lobbying apparatus for an 11th-hour assault on the web of new taxes and...

Business Moves – Southeast

Mar 25 2013 // Bankers Insurance, AIX Group Florida ankers Insurance Group has reached an agreement with AIX Group to acquire its Florida policies as part of a strategy to increase Bankers’ presence in the state’s Latino...

2012 Insurance M&A Snapshot

Mar 25 2013 // Here is a snapshot of the property/casualty insurance industry merger and acquisition activity reported byInsurance Journal in 2012. Major carrier transactions included Nationwide’s acquisition of Harleysville, The...

Top 10 Hot New Markets

Mar 25 2013 // Insurance Journal examined industries experiencing changes and expansions during the past year. Here are the top 10 market sectors that just might deliver hot opportunities for agents and brokers in the property/casualty...

Transitioning Jobs at MetLife

Mar 25 2013 // Insurance giant MetLife Inc. recently announced a plan to move some 2,600 positions into newly created facilities in North Carolina by the end of 2015. And this means a lot of folks in the Northeast could be facing some...

Mississippi Damages Cap Question Not Settled by U.S. Court Ruling

Mar 22 2013 // A decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals that Mississippi’s $1 million cap on non-economic damages arising from civil litigation does not violate the state constitution’s separation of powers clause...

Supreme Court to Hear Drugmakers’ ‘Pay for Delay’ of Generic Products Case

Mar 22 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments on Monday over whether big drug companies can settle patent litigation with generic rivals by making deals to keep cheaper products off the market. U.S. and state regulators say...

Sandy Losses Wiped Out Entire U.S. Marine Premiums for 2012: IUMI

Mar 22 2013 // The cost of Superstom Sandy to the global marine market has been put at between $2.5 billion and $3 billion — which effectively wipes out the entire U.S. marine premiums for 2012, according to the annual spring...

N.Y. Reaches Settlement With Assurant, Largest ‘Force-Placed’ Insurer in U.S.

Mar 21 2013 // The New York State Department of Financial Services investigation has produced a settlement with the country’s largest “force-placed” insurer, Assurant Inc. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who announced the...

Mixed Bag of Drought, Flooding and Warm Weather Predicted for Spring

Mar 21 2013 // In its three-month U.S. Spring Outlook, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states that odds favor above-average temperatures across much of the continental United States, including drought-stricken areas...

U.S. Appeals Court Affirms Ruling Against OSU in Insurance Case

Mar 21 2013 // A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling against Oklahoma State University‘s athletic fundraising arm and its top booster, T. Boone Pickens, in their attempt to recover life insurance premiums in a fundraising...

ACE Launches Portal for Placing U.S. Small Business International Policies

Mar 21 2013 // ACE Commercial Risk Services, the U.S.-based small business insurance division of the ACE Group, has introduced a portal for U.S. brokers working with small- to-mid-sized U.S.-based companies doing business overseas. The...

Goldman Avoids Class Action Over Gender Bias Claim; Court Allows Arbitration

Mar 21 2013 // Goldman Sachs Group Inc. on Thursday won a U.S. court order allowing it to send a former employee’s gender discrimination dispute to arbitration, rather than being forced to defend against her claims in a class...

Health Cost Savings Innovations Need Time: Obama Official

Mar 21 2013 // The Obama administration on Wednesday said its experiments at controlling healthcare costs could need up to a year to produce results, frustrating congressional lawmakers eager to know if new innovations in care delivery...

Senate Votes $55M to Avoid Meat Inspector Layoffs

Mar 21 2013 // U.S. Senators agreed to shift $55 million in funds within the Agriculture Department on Wednesday to avert the layoff of all U.S. meat inspectors this summer due to federal budget cuts. On a voice vote, the Senate adopted...

Michigan Oil Spill Cleanup Costs to Exceed Insurance: Enbridge

Mar 21 2013 // Enbridge Energy Partners LP said on Wednesday that the costs of additional cleanup from a huge Michigan oil spill three years ago may push the total bill past the limit of its insurance coverage, hampering its financial...

Longer Routes Help Oil Tankers Mitigate Iran Sanctions

Mar 21 2013 // Oil tanker owners are cushioning the impact of Iranian trade restrictions by shipping crude over greater distances to some of Asia’s biggest economies, the founder of Nordic American Tankers Ltd. said on...