Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mexican Passenger Buses Avoid Safety Checks When Entering U.S., Says Audit
Sep 21 2009 // Some Mexican passenger buses are not being inspected when they enter the U.S. because they cross the border on evenings and weekends, there are no inspectors or the crossings lack safe places for inspections, according to...
Las Vegas Malpractice Fraud Case Reinstated by Federal Court
Sep 21 2009 // A federal appeals court has reinstated a criminal case against a Las Vegas attorney and medical consultant accused of participating in a scheme to inflate medical costs, protect doctors from malpractice lawsuits and share...
A.M. Best: New Regulations, Market Conditions and Financial Crisis Wreak Havoc on Workers’ Comp Line
Sep 21 2009 // Challenging market conditions, the financial crisis and the recession drove profitability downward for the U.S. workers’ compensation market in 2008. Changing regulatory conditions and reforms have also impacted the...
Reinsurers’ Rendezvous Reveals Reflection; Sea Level Rise Imperil Coasts; Pirates Ahoy!
Sep 21 2009 // The world’s reinsurers gathered in Monte Carlo over the first weekend in September for their annual conclave. This year’s meetings were calm by comparison with prior years — no hurricanes ravaging...
Feds, Regulators, Congress Eye the Future of Credit Rating Agencies
Sep 21 2009 // The nation’s insurance regulators, Congress and the SEC have eyes on credit rating agencies and the standards they must follow in the future. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) said it will...
Safety, Training Standards Lacking for Increasingly-Popular Robotic Surgery
Sep 18 2009 // Surgeons are increasingly turning to high-tech robotic equipment to operate on patients with prostate cancer and other conditions but some medical authorities worry about inadequate training and lax standards among...
Insurance Industry Facing Increased Regulatory, Legislative Activity: Study
Sep 18 2009 // Legislative and regulatory activity affecting the insurance industry has increased considerably in 2009 compared to the previous two years, according to a new report. From January to July 2009, more than 10,000 pieces of...
U.S. Businesses Urged to Prepare for Absenteeism Due to H1N1 Flu
Sep 18 2009 // The U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Friday offered companies new guidelines for coping with the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, warning that employers could face crippling absenteeism as the U.S. flu season takes hold. In the 16-page...
Home Insurers Use Lava Maps to Limit Exposure on Hawaii’s Big Island
Sep 18 2009 // The U.S. Geological Survey’s 35-year-old maps of lava danger zones in this southern corner of Hawaii’s Big Island are a tableau of earthy colors and odd shapes originally meant for scientific and planning...
Obama Grants $25 Million to States for Medical Malpractice Pilot Projects
Sep 18 2009 // The White House said Thursday it had allocated $25 million in grants to states for a pilot program that would seek to ease the impact of malpractice suits on the U.S. medical system, as President Barack Obama pushes for...
It Was No Katrina But Some in Coastal America Remember Ivan’s Terror
Sep 17 2009 // People who lived through Hurricane Ivan can’t forget the haunting images left by one of the strongest storms ever recorded: condo towers collapsed in roiling surf, splintered homes or flat slabs, fragments of...
Report: AIG Rebuffs CEO Benmosche’s Request for Private Jet
Sep 17 2009 // Bailed-out insurer AIG told its new chief executive Robert Benmosche that he could not use the company-owned jet for his personal use, Bloomberg News reported. Citing unnamed sources, Bloomberg said AIG’s board told...
Senate Panel’s 10-Year, $856 Billion Healthcare Plan Excludes Public Option
Sep 16 2009 // Senator Max Baucus unveiled his plan for a 10-year, $856 billion healthcare overhaul Wednesday that would revamp insurance rules but does not include a government-run option backed by liberal Democrats. Baucus, the...
Health Rates Rose Fast in West
Sep 16 2009 // Family health care premiums rose an estimated three to five times faster than earnings for workers in Western states from 2000 through 2009, according to a report issued by the consumer health organization Families USA. In...
Text: Senate Finance Committee’s America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009
Sep 16 2009 // Chairman’s Mark America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 Scheduled for Markup By the Senate Committee on Finance On September 22, 2009 America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009 TITLE I—HEALTH CARE...
Study: U.S. Workers’ Health Costs Double Over Decade
Sep 15 2009 // U.S. workers who have health insurance for their families through employers have seen premiums more than double in the last decade, according to a survey released on Tuesday. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the...
US Pharmacy Tech Sues Employer over Mock Holdup
Sep 15 2009 // A Pennsylvania pharmacy technician who says she was traumatized when a masked gunman burst into her store demanding the painkiller OxyContin is suing her employers for arranging the mock holdup. Babette Perry says in a...
Former General Re Executive Napier Gets Probation in AIG Fraud
Sep 15 2009 // A former executive of reinsurer General Re Corp. was sentenced to two years probation and fined $10,000 after pleading guilty to helping American International Group cook its books. U.S. District Judge Christopher Droney...
U.S. Mulls Liability Standards for Credit Rating Firms
Sep 14 2009 // U.S. securities regulators are roughing out ideas that would make Moody’s Corp., Standard & Poor’s and other credit raters more accountable to investors by potentially exposing the firms to greater...
U.S. Prosecutors Eye Grand Jury on AIG Financial Products Chief
Sep 11 2009 // U.S prosecutors are preparing to impanel a grand jury to consider indicting the former head of American International Group’s Financial Products unit for securities fraud, the Wall Street Journal reported. The...
