News

As reported in Business Insurance by Judy Greenwald. A federal appellate court has overturned a lower court decision and ruled in favor of an insurer in litigation over a city’s refusal to settle a discrimination lawsuit, based on its policy’s “hammer clause,” which allows it to accept a good-faith settlement even if is not acceptable […]

The US Supreme Court ruled on subsidies for federal exchanges. Click for the full story

Virginia Workers’ Compensation Statutes for 2014/2015 have been released. Read the statues – PDF

On Sept. 11, 2014, OSHA announced a new final rule for reporting and recording severe work-related injuries and illnesses. Under the new rule, employers will be required to report any work-related fatality to OSHA within eight hours and any in-patient hospitalization, amputation or loss of an eye within 24 hours. The final rule also updates […]

Group health plan sponsors must provide the annual Medicare Part D creditable coverage disclosure notices to Medicare- eligible individuals before Oct. 15, 2014—the start date of the annual enrollment period for Medicare Part D. The creditable coverage disclosure notice alerts individuals as to whether their plan’s prescription drug coverage is at least as good as […]

The American Tort Reform Foundation (ATRF) publishes an annual “Judicial Hellholes” report detailing jurisdictions it deems least favorable for civil-lawsuit defendants. The foundation’s worst jurisdictions for 2012-2013 are: California – Courts there continue to see class-action litigation abuses, primarily involving consumer lawsuits involving false advertising and unfair business practices; a surge in asbestos-related filings; and […]

California is the latest state to enact a law stating that in all construction contracts for private commercial projects, any indemnity obligations arising out of active negligence or willful misconduct are void and unenforceable. This is noteworthy for developers and contractors, because it essentially nullifies the power of hold-harmless and indemnification clauses in contracts for […]

The third wave of taxes to help pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, often called Obamacare, began Jan. 1. The taxes are designed to help subsidize private health insurance and the expansion of Medicaid that begins in earnest in 2014. The business community generally has little affection for Obamacare and the increased […]

Insurance professionals expect management liability and professional lines rate increases in 2013, according to a November 2012 survey by global specialty insurer Torus. Specifically, 67% of respondents expected increases of up to 10% year over year, while 19% anticipated prices to increase by more than 11%, according to a recent Insurance Journal article. In terms of which […]

Hurricane Sandy, which struck the United States Oct. 29, 2012, caused roughly $62 billion in damage, according to a Dec. 3 Insurance Journal article, making it the second-costliest storm in U.S. history, following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. That compares to $41 billion for Hurricane Katrina, $33 billion for the World Trade Center terrorist attack, $16 […]