Latest Legislation Headlines

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

New Missouri Law Encourages Captive Insurance Operations

Jul 24 2009 // Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed a bill that makes improvements to the state’s captive insurance laws by simplifying the process of moving offshore captive operations to Missouri.House Bill 577, an omnibus...

White House Still Sees Health Reform By Year’s End Despite Delays

Jul 24 2009 // Shrugging off delays in a divided Congress, President Barack Obama’s administration on Friday said a sweeping healthcare overhaul would still be approved by year’s end to control costs and expand coverage.White...

New York Judge Awards $250K to Wrongly Imprisoned Woman

Jul 24 2009 // A woman falsely implicated by New York police in a gruesome 1989 multiple murder is entitled to more than $250,000 in compensation for the nearly 2 1/2 years she spent behind bars, a New York Court of Claims judge has...

State Regulation, Earthquake Coverage of Concern to Missouri’s Huff

Jul 24 2009 // In an address to some 130 members of the Missouri Association of Insurance Agents (MAIA) Missouri Insurance Director John M. Huff made a strong argument that states, rather than the federal government, should continue to...

Florida Signs Insurance Regulation Pact with United Kingdom

Jul 22 2009 // The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) and the United Kingdom Financial Services Authority (FSA) have agreed to work together on issues that affect insurance consumers in the U.K. and the U.S.Florida Insurance...

Florida’s Denial of State Farm 47% Rate Hike Again Upheld

Jul 21 2009 // A court has upheld Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty’s denial of a 47.1 percent home insurance rate hike requested last July by State Farm Florida.According to the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation...

Judge: $145M Suit over Taser-Death Can Go to Trial

Jul 21 2009 // A federal judge in Baltimore has ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit can go to trial against Frederick County and the sheriff’s office in the death of a man who was shocked with a Taser in 2007. The family of...

Insurance Claims Firm Says West Virginia Owes It $1 Million Lost in Scam

Jul 21 2009 // A Memphis insurance claims firm wants the more than $1 million that it was supposed to receive from West Virginia, but that was instead diverted in an apparent Africa-based fraud scheme, state lawmakers learned...

Oklahoma Lawmaker Vows to Continue Cell Phone Safety Efforts

Jul 21 2009 // Although legislation filed by Oklahoma House of Representatives Democratic Leader Danny Morgan to address the dangers of cell phone use and texting while driving has stalled the past two legislative sessions, Rep. Morgan...

New York Eases Compensation Disclosure Mandate for Producers

Jul 20 2009 // The New York State Insurance Department this month released a new draft of a rule governing when and how insurance producers must disclose their compensation and competing quotes to customers.The latest draft appears to be...

South Carolina Chief Refutes Legislative Audit Critical of Some Insurance Department Work

Jul 20 2009 // A report by the auditing arm of the South Carolina Legislature has concluded that the state insurance department overall does a good job regulating insurance companies and their rates but it could do a better job of...

Declarations

Jul 20 2009 // Too High a Cost“In terms of lives and of dollars, the cost of repealing Missouri’s helmet law simply would have been too high.” —Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon, who vetoed legislation that would have relaxed a...

Florida’s Citizens Rate Hikes Fall Short of Industry Hopes

Jul 20 2009 // After three years of no increases, Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is about to hike premiums up to 10 percent for many of its policyholders, although not for as many as some insurance insiders and...

California Commissioner Rejects Workers’ Comp Bureau Rate Increase

Jul 20 2009 // Citing testimony that self-insured employers have been able to reduce overall workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has rejected the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating...

Rhode Island Court Rules Insurer Not Obligated to Defend Nightclub Owners

Jul 20 2009 // A Rhode Island court has ruled that a commercial general liability insurance policy held by the owners of the Station nightclub does not require the insurance company to defend them against criminal charges.The case arose...

Marsh Study: UK Real Estate Firms Must Manage Risk More Effectively

Jul 20 2009 // A new report by Marsh has found that some UK real estate firms are failing to address the strategic risks facing their organizations, leaving them more vulnerable to the vagaries of market conditions and in a weaker...

Travelers Insurance Urges Regional Zones, Federal Role for Wind Coverage

Jul 20 2009 // One of the nation’s largest insurers has unveiled a plan to shift the authority for regulating rates for hurricane wind coverage from state regulators to an independent federal commission.Mississippi Gov. Haley...

Oklahoma Lawmakers to Study Workers’ Comp Reform Proposals

Jul 20 2009 // Workers’ compensation reform proposals will be subjected to legislative scrutiny through an Oklahoma House of Representatives study requested by state Rep. Mark McCullough, among others.McCullough, who has authored...

Credit Default Swaps Should Be Regulated as Insurance

Jul 20 2009 // Credit default swaps nearly brought down the world financial system last fall when it was discovered that AIG Financial Products had written hundreds of billions of dollars worth of credit protection without setting aside...

California Closer to Allowing Mileage-Based Auto Insurance

Jul 20 2009 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued proposed regulations for Pay-Drive (Usage Based Auto Insurance).According to the Commissioner, “Insurers frequently rely on consumers to provide their own...