Latest Wisconsin Headlines

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

Survey: Health Insurance Costs 22% More in Wisconsin

Nov 20 2009 // A new survey finds Wisconsinites pay more for health insurance than the rest of the country and the cost is rising at a faster rate.The consulting firm Mercer finds employers and their workers in Wisconsin paid an average...

Wisconsin Republicans Aim to Repeal Auto Insurance Mandates

Nov 15 2009 // Republican legislators in Wisconsin are trying to muster support for a bill that would repeal new minimum car insurance mandates. The state budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed earlier this year required all motorists to purchase...

Wisconsin Local Governments to Share $12M in Property Insurance Credits

Nov 12 2009 // Wisconsin insurance officials plan to hand $12 million in property insurance credits back to local governments next year. Wisconsin municipalities can pay into a state account in exchange for insurance on public property....

Wisconsin Republicans Rail Against Auto Insurance Provisions

Nov 4 2009 // Republican legislators in Wisconsin are trying to muster support for a bill that would repeal new minimum car insurance levels. The state budget Gov. Jim Doyle signed earlier this year required all motorists to purchase...

Wisconsin Young Adults May Stay on Parents Health Plan Longer

Nov 2 2009 // A new state law taking effect in Wisconsin on Jan. 1, 2010, allows young adults up to age 27 to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans unless they have access to cheaper plans through their employers. Gov....

Misplaced Letter Costs PepsiCo $1.2 Billion in Wisconsin Ruling

Oct 30 2009 // It’s an expensive lesson on the importance of reading your mail.A Wisconsin judge has ordered PepsiCo Inc. to pay $1.26 billion to two men who said it stole their idea to sell purified water after a secretary mislaid...

Campaign Donations Don’t Require Recusals, Wisconsin High Court Rules

Oct 30 2009 // The Wisconsin Supreme Court adopted rules Wednesday allowing judges to hear cases involving their biggest campaign contributors, siding with business interests and rejecting calls for reform.Voting 4-3, the court approved...

Blame Shifting Begins Over Costlier Auto Insurance in Wisconsin

Oct 27 2009 // As insurance companies begin mailing notices to Wisconsin customers telling them that their premiums are likely to increase soon, state politicians are scrambling to avoid the blame.The first changes expected to affect...

A.M. Best Withdraws Ratings of 2 Midwest Mutual Insurers

Oct 6 2009 // A.M. Best Co. announced that, in separate actions, it has withdrawn the ratings of two Midwest-based mutual insurance companies at the request of those companies.Best affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of C++...

Spanish Language Online Complaint Filing Now Available in Wisconsin

Sep 28 2009 // Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg recently announced improvements to the Office of the Commissioner of Insurance’s on-line consumer complaint system. Now Spanish-speaking consumers will be able to complete...

New Wisconsin Consumer Complaint Form in Spanish

Sep 21 2009 // Spanish-speaking Wisconsinites who want to file an insurance-related complaint can now do it online. The state Department of Insurance has a new online complaint form that allows the filer to complete it all in...

Wisconsin Democrats Promise Crackdown on Drunken-Drivers

Sep 17 2009 // Democrats who control the Wisconsin Legislature promise to focus on cracking down on drunken driving this fall, among other priorities.The state Senate began its fall session Tuesday and the Assembly starts Wednesday. The...

Wisconsin to Hold Hearing on Insurer Use of Credit Information

Sep 10 2009 // Wisconsin Insurance Commissioner Sean Dilweg will hold a hearing Sept. 14 on the use of consumer credit information in personal lines insurance policies.The public hearing with invited testimony will take place beginning...

Wisconsin Troopers Aggressively Enforcing Seat Belt Law

Aug 25 2009 // Wisconsin state troopers are aggressively enforcing the new state law that requires drivers to wear seat belts.The law that went into effect in July gives officers the right to pull over and ticket drivers for not wearing...

Appeals Court Sides with Wisconsin Trucker in Insurance Dispute

Aug 3 2009 // A northeast Wisconsin trucker has won another legal battle involving an insurance claim he filed after hitting a deer in 2002. Court records say what started as a $7,500 claim has since mushroomed to nearly $250,000 in...

Insurer Dropped as Defendant in Wisconsin Diocese Case

Jul 20 2009 // A judge has dropped an insurance company from a lawsuit accusing the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, Wis., of covering up a priest’s sexual assaults.Milwaukee-based Indiana Insurance Co. asked to be dropped from the...

Wisconsin Court Tosses Lawsuit Against John Deere Over Mower Mishap

Jul 15 2009 // The Wisconsin Supreme Court says a father who accidentally severed the feet of his two-year-old son with a riding lawnmower cannot hold the manufacturer liable for the injury.In a 4-2 decision, the court ruled that...

Insurance Keeps Costs From Fire at Wisconsin’s Smithfield Foods in Check

Jul 15 2009 // Smithfield Foods Inc. said Tuesday that fire damage at its Patrick Cudahy meat plant in Cudahy, Wisconsin, should not have a measurable affect on its earnings or liquidity.Partial production has resumed in areas of the...

Wisconsin Court: Witnesses Cannot Seek Medical Damages

Jul 13 2009 // The Wisconsin Supreme Court on July 10 tossed out a $200,000 award to a father who watched one of his twin sons die during birth in 1998.In a decision praised by doctors but criticized by trial lawyers, the court ruled 5-2...

Wisconsin Lawmakers Mull Property Insurance Breaks for Governments

Jul 13 2009 // Some state lawmakers in Wisconsin want to give local governments a one-year break from paying their property-insurance premiums.Hundreds of cities, towns and school districts insure their property with a state fund managed...