Latest USA Headlines

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

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 chairman...

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...

AIG May Use Tax Benefits of Selling Stakes to Repay U.S. Taxpayers

Sep 11 2009 // American International Group Inc. may sell stakes in its businesses, rather than shedding entire units, to repay U.S. government bailouts, retaining huge tax benefits, according to a source familiar with the matter.The...

Aon Survey Finds UK’s D&O Premiums Still Below U.S. Rates

Sep 9 2009 // According to Aon’s Quarterly D&O Pricing Index, “US financial institutions (FI) saw premium increases of 15 percent on average in Q2,” as did a number of the UK’s financial institutions....

Fairfax to Sell Shares to Fund Repurchase of Odyssey Re

Sep 9 2009 // Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd. said Tuesday it will sell $1 billion in stock to fund the purchase of the Odyssey Re Holdings Corp shares that it does not already own. [IJ Note: Neither Standard & Poor’s nor...

Down Economy Plus Smarter, Safer Vehicles Help Reduce Death Toll

Sep 9 2009 // The death toll on the nation’s highways dropped in 2008 to 37,261, a 9.7 decrease from the 2007 total and the lowest level since 1961, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. The trend continued in the...

At Home and Abroad, Vacated Properties Posing Greater Risks

Sep 7 2009 // A global recession, which has led to layoffs and a sharp drop in consumer spending, has also created a glut of commercial real estate space around the world. Vacated properties are a significant concern because they are...

Mexican Buses Avoid Safety Checks When Entering U.S., Says Audit

Sep 4 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...

Louisiana Commissioner: Don’t Raise Taxes on Reinsurers

Sep 3 2009 // Now that the hurricane season is well underway, Louisianans remember when Katrina came ashore, late in August 2005, with a storm surge that eventually flooded New Orleans and leveled many Gulf Coast towns, costing more...

Doha Round Talks Now an ‘End-Game’ Says Australian Trade Minister

Sep 3 2009 // The World Trade Organization’s Doha round to free up trade is nearly complete and world leaders are voicing the political will to reach a deal next year, Australian Trade Minister Simon Crean said on Wednesday.But at...

Blunt-Talking AIG CEO Benmosche’s True Passion Is Wine

Sep 3 2009 // AIG’s new CEO, Robert Benmosche, has sparked just about as many headlines as one executive can in the past few weeks — and all while on holiday at his villa in Croatia looking over the Adriatic.He has been...