The so-called “employer mandate” under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), requiring businesses to provide healthcare coverage to their employees or pay penalties, will be delayed for one year, until 2015. In a blog posting on July 2, Mark J. Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, said that the Administration had “heard concerns about the complexity of the requirements and the need for more time to implement them effectively” and would publish formal guidance on the transition within one week.
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UK: Duty of Disclosure: Fair Presentation of the Risk
In Alan Bate v Aviva Insurance UK Ltd [2013] EWHC 1687 (Comm), the Commercial Court held that there had been material misrepresentation and non-disclosure as the insurer was not given a fair presentation of the risk.
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COMPLIMENTARY WEBINAR – Fundamentals Of, and Insurance Coverage For, Merger Objection Suits: The Basics – July 17, 2013
There has been a sharp uptick in the frequency of merger objection lawsuits in the past several years. These suits are now brought after virtually every major deal is announced.
Read More COMPLIMENTARY WEBINAR – Fundamentals Of, and Insurance Coverage For, Merger Objection Suits: The Basics – July 17, 2013
Twice in One Day, the Fifth Circuit Enforces a Pollution Buyback’s Thirty-Day Limit for Giving Notice of an Occurrence
On June 18, two entirely different panels of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed judgments in favor of insurance companies on the grounds that the policyholder’s notice was untimely under the policy’s pollution buyback. Starr Indemnify & Liability Co. v. SGS Petroleum Service Corp. and Settoon Towing LLC v. St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Co. both involved a form of umbrella insurance known as bumbershoot.
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Mutual Pharmaceutical v. Bartlett: The Supreme Court Reaffirms Preemption of State-Law Claims Against Generic Drug Manufacturers
The Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, ___ U.S. ____ (June 24, 2013), offers welcome clarity to generic drug manufacturers: reaffirming that state tort claims against those manufacturers are preempted by the Hatch-Waxman Amendments to the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), and by the Court’s landmark decision in Pliva v. Mensing, 113 S.Ct. 2567 (2011).
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UK: FCA Publishes Thematic Review of Mobile Phone Insurance
The FCA published the report on its thematic review of mobile phone insurance (MPI) yesterday. The second thematic review carried out by the regulator, it followed the example set by the recent review of motor legal expenses insurance (see our earlier blog post here), and condemned opt-out selling practices.
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Second Circuit Affirms Application of Policy Exclusion in Crane Collapse Coverage Case
The Second Circuit recently affirmed a lower court decision holding that an insurance policy exclusion barred coverage for claims against a construction company relating to a March 2008 crane collapse in Manhattan. A copy of the decision can be found here.
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UK: Supreme Court Rules on Non-European Anti-Suit Injunctions
The Supreme Court has confirmed in Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC (JSC) v AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP [2013] UKSC 35 that English courts may order an injunction to stay foreign proceedings which have been started in breach of an arbitration agreement, even where no arbitration proceedings are proposed or underway.
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Healthcare Update: CMS Unveils Website and Call Center for Exchanges; CMS Releases Proposed Rule on Exchange Operation
CMS UNVEILS WEBSITE AND CALL CENTER FOR EXCHANGES
On June 24, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a revised HealthCare.gov website and a 24-hour-a-day consumer call center to provide information on the “Health Insurance Marketplace,” commonly referred to as state insurance exchanges. The exchanges, created under the Affordable Care Act, are to begin providing coverage on January 1, 2014. Open enrollment is scheduled to begin on October 1, 2013, notwithstanding widespread skepticism.
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New York Passes Statutory Amendments to Holding Company Act
On June 20, 2013, the New York legislature passed Bills A07807A/S04329-A (the “Amendments”). The purpose of the Amendments is to adopt recent changes to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (“NAIC”) Model Holding Company System Regulatory Act (the “Model Act”). Earlier this year, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) adopted several amendments to Insurance Regulation 52 to conform with these changes to the Model Act.
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