CCIIO ISSUES BROKER GUIDELINES FOR EXCHANGES
On May 1, the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO), a part of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), issued guidance on the “Role of Agents, Brokers, and Web-brokers in Health Insurance Marketplaces.” The marketplaces, commonly known as health insurance exchanges, are scheduled to be in operation for open enrollment on October 1, 2013, with coverage to take effect on January 1, 2014. …
Read More Healthcare Update: CCIIO Issues Broker Guidelines for Exchanges; HHS Releases New Insurance Application Forms

Members of the Rhode Island House of Representatives met on May 1, 2013 to discuss H.B. 5459, the Stop-Loss Insurance Act (the “Act”), which was introduced on February 14, 2013. The Act proposes to place further restrictions on the use of stop-loss insurance by employers who self-insure their employee benefit health plans. …
Read More Bill Restricting the Sale of Stop-Loss Insurance Gains Traction in Rhode Island

Brian Green (NY) is attending the Aviation Insurance Association Conference in Orlando, FL, on May 4-7. The AIA annual conference is the biggest conference in the aviation and aerospace insurance space. …
Read More Edwards Wildman Attends Aviation Insurance Association Conference

Several Bureau of Economic Analysis (“BEA”) reports will be due later this month, on May 31st, including a 5-year Benchmark Survey of Foreign Direct Investment. U.S. companies with foreign affiliates should ensure their compliance departments are working to timely file any applicable reports, including filing of any appropriate claims for exemption. …
Read More Reminder to File Your BEA Reports

The Hong Kong Federation of Insurers presented a study report on How to Position Hong Kong as a Maritime Centre for the Asia-Pacific Region to the Hong Kong Maritime Industry Council on 29 April 2013 (Report). …
Read More Hong Kong: Government Urged to Help Develop and Promote the Maritime Industry

On April 1, 2013, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) issued its draft White Paper entitled The U.S. National State-Based System of Insurance Financial Regulation and the Solvency Modernization Initiative (the “Paper”). Broadly, the purpose of the Paper is to provide international regulators with a description of how the U.S. system of regulation works. …
Read More NAIC Issues Draft White Paper for Final Comment

The High Court recently handed down a judgment in which a claims control clause in a reinsurance contract was held not to be breached by the conduct of the reinsured in agreeing to pay the insured their retention and the share of one reinsurer who had been involved in settling that part of the claim. …
Read More UK: Actions of Insurers in Respect of the Retention and One Reinsurer’s Share did not Breach Claims Control Clause

The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts recently held that where title insurers pursue litigation to cure defects to a title, they do not have a broad duty to defend any uncovered counterclaims against the insured. See GMAC Mortgage, LLC v. First American Title Ins. Co., No. SJC-11161 (Apr. 4, 2013). …
Read More Massachusetts High Court Holds That Title Insurers Do Not Have Broad Duty To Defend Counterclaims