Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Congress Urged to Back Drugmaker Liability Suits
May 15 2008 // U.S. actor Dennis Quaid urged the U.S. Congress Wednesday to preserve patients’ rights to sue drugmakers for injuries, recounting how his newborn twins nearly died from an accidental drug overdose. Quaid and his wife...
Zurich Q1 Net up 3% to $1.4 Billion
May 15 2008 // The Zurich Financial Services Group reported good first quarter results across all business segments, “driven,” the Group said, “by a continued focus on financial discipline, operating efficiency and risk...
Insurance Advisory Organization, AAIS, Revises Boatowners Program
May 15 2008 // The U.S. property/casualty industry’s first standardized program for insuring small, privately owned watercraft is undergoing a comprehensive revision. Wheaton, Ill.-based the American Association of Insurance...
Rapid Coastal Growth Places Urgency on Hurricane Forecasts, Chief Says
May 14 2008 // The rapid pace of development along hurricane-prone coasts is adding a new level of urgency for forecasters to more accurately pinpoint potential storm impact zones, the director of the National Hurricane Center...
$400 Billion Apartheid Damage Claims Against 50 Firms to Proceed
May 12 2008 // The U.S. Supreme Court Monday affirmed a ruling that apartheid victims who seek damages exceeding $400 billion from more than 50 major corporations can go forward with their lawsuits. With four justices recused from the...
Montana Auditor To Negotiate Insurance in China
May 12 2008 // Montana State Auditor John Morrison will represent U.S. insurance regulators in the U.S.-China Insurance Dialogues in Hangzhou, China, this week. The dialogues, part of trade negotiations between the two countries, are...
S&P Lowers Kingsway’s Ratings to ‘BB’
May 12 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Toronto-based specialty insurance provider Kingsway Financial Services Inc. to...
Senate Rejects Adding Wind Coverage to Flood Insurance Program, 73-19
May 12 2008 // The U.S. Senate last week officially rejected a bid by Gulf state senators to add wind coverage to a financially strapped federal program that provides flood insurance. Lawmakers from Louisiana and Mississippi cited...
U.S. Tornadoes Take at Least 21 Lives, Destroy Homes, Power Lines
May 12 2008 // Tornadoes killed at least 21 people and injured hundreds as they ripped through the central and southeastern United States over the weekend, destroying homes, overturning cars and downing trees and power lines. Authorities...
First Aid Flights May Reach Myanmar; Death Toll Could Exceed 100,000
May 9 2008 // Myanmar’s (Burma’s) isolationist military regime gave the go-ahead for the first major airlift of international aid into the country Thursday, while dragging its feet on urgently requested visas by foreign...
U.S. Lists Toxic Substances Tied to Occupational Diseases on Web Site
May 8 2008 // The U.S. Department of Labor has added to its Web site information about occupational diseases associated with toxic substances. The list is of toxic substances found at facilities covered by Energy Employees Occupational...
U.S. Court Bars Sex Bias Claim by Maine Mom Denied Promotion
May 8 2008 // A federal court has blocked a Maine woman from suing her employer for sex discrimination after she claimed she was denied a promotion because of her childcare responsibilities for her four children including 6-year old...
Argo Group Posts $36.9 Million Q1 Net Income; Conference Call Today, Details
May 6 2008 // The Bermuda-based Argo Group International Holdings, Ltd. (which includes the formerly Texas-based Argonaut Group) announced net income of $36.9 million for the first quarter of 2007, a 47 percent rise, while pretax...
N.Y. City Wants U.S. To Pay 9/11 Health Care Costs
May 5 2008 // New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called on the federal government to pay $150 million a year in medical bills for workers and residents who suffered health effects from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. After the World...
UN IPCC Head Sees Possible Climate Change Deal in 2009
May 5 2008 // The world can reach a significant new climate change pact by the end of 2009 if current talks keep up their momentum, the head of the United Nations climate panel said on Sunday. The United Nations began negotiations on a...
U.S. Insurers Face Uphill Battle to Alter Foreign Insurers’ Tax Break
May 5 2008 // A coalition of U.S. insurers is calling on lawmakers to close a tax loophole that helps foreign insurers, and although it has won the support of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, it faces a harder task convincing...
On Shaky Ground
May 5 2008 // There have been a lot of rumblings lately — with scientists recording earthquakes in Nevada, Oregon and throughout the Midwest ranging from magnitudes 4.7 to 5.4. The U.S. Geological survey recently noted that...
Earthquakes Raise Questions of Future Shocks, Public Readiness
May 5 2008 // Just weeks after earthquakes rattled Nevada, the Midwest and the coast of Oregon, and on the heels of the 102nd anniversary of San Francisco’s 1906 earthquake, the public, government officials and insurance industry...
Simple Successful in a Complex World
May 5 2008 // Woodruff-Sawyer and Co., ranked #16 in the Insurance Journal Top 100 Independent Agencies, continues to grow, handling complex commercial risks here in the U.S. and in foreign countries. Since the agency’s founding...
Beware! It’s Open Season on ERISA Fiduciaries
May 5 2008 // During the 12-month period ending March 31, 2007, nearly 10,000 new federal lawsuits were filed under ERISA. In 2007 alone, ERISA class action settlements exceeded $1.8 billion. Yes, it is open season on ERISA fiduciaries...
