The Connecticut Supreme Court, in a much anticipated subrogation decision, recently held that an insurer has priority over a policyholder in the context of a recovery for insurance policy deductible losses. See Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. TD Banknorth Ins. Agency, Inc., 309 Conn. 449, — A.3d —-, 2013 WL 3818112 (Conn. July 30, 2013). …
Read More Connecticut Supreme Court Determines that the Make Whole Doctrine Does Not Apply to Insurance Policy Deductibles

PROPOSED BILL WOULD ELIMINATE STARK LAW EXCEPTION FOR SOME SERVICES

The “Promoting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2013,” introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on August 1, would eliminate one of the Stark Law’s exceptions for advanced imaging, anatomic pathology, radiation therapy and physical therapy services performed in a physician’s office. …
Read More Healthcare Update: Proposed Bill Would Eliminate Stark Law Exception for Some Services; Oregon Exchange Won’t be Completely Ready by Deadline; “Doc Fix” Bill Advances in House

In Bituminous Casualty Corp. v. Iles, the Appellate Court of Illinois reversed the trial court’s judgment against the insurance company. An oil well exploded, leading to many lawsuits against Bituminous’s policyholders. …
Read More The Illinois Appellate Court Rules that CGL Policies’ General Aggregate Limit Should Not Be Mistaken for an Each Occurrence Limit

In Lexington Insurance Co. v. Integrity Land Title Co., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals enforced two exclusions, rejecting arguments in favor of coverage as unreasonable and too narrow. Notably, the court rejected these arguments to the detriment of an intervenor claiming benefits under a policy issued to another party, even though the basis of enforcing these exclusions was the policyholder’s knowledge and failure, not the intervenor’s. …
Read More The Eighth Circuit Rejects Pro-Coverage Arguments as Unreasonable and Too Narrow and Applies the Prior-Knowledge and Lien-Waiver Exclusions

Below are recent activities on the FIO/FSOC front.

  • In its quarterly report to Congress issued on July 24, 2013, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) details its support for the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC’s) designation of AIG as a systemically important financial institution. 

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Read More FIO/FSOC Update as of August 6, 2013

According to media reports, during its July 26 conference call, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Executive (EX) Committee/Plenary approved the proposal for the Corporate Governance (E) Working Group to develop a new model law to facilitate the annual collection of information regarding insurers’ corporate governance practices. …
Read More NAIC Executive Committee Grants Approval for Development of Corporate Governance Model Law

The Supreme Court has confirmed that a tower of liability insurance is exhausted in the order in which the insured’s liability is ascertained by agreement, judgment or award. …
Read More UK: Supreme Court Confirms that Order of Attachment Follows Ascertainment of Insured’s Liability

On August 1, 2013, the California Supreme Court issued its long awaited decision in Zhang v. California Capital Insurance Company. A copy of the decision is available here. …
Read More The Significance of Zhang v. California Capital Insurance Company

Edwards Wildman Speaker: Robert W. DiUbaldo

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM (Central Time)

Please join us on August 28 from noon to 1:15 pm (Central) for this free webinar. Attorneys from Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP and Surdyk & Baker, engineers from St. John-Mittelhauser & Associates and underwriting and claims professionals from the Catlin Group will discuss the recently enacted Illinois Hydraulic Fracking Regulatory Act and its potential consequences, and will answer your questions. …
Read More COMPLIMENTARY WEBINAR – FRACKING the NEW ALBANY SHALE: Legal and Technical Issues Arising from the Passage of the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act (HFRA)