On April 25, 2011, the Rhode Island Superior Court (Silverstein, J.) ruled in favor of the constitutionality of the Voluntary Restructuring of Solvent Insurers Act (the “Restructuring Act”), a state statute enacted in 2002 that allows Rhode Island domestic commercial insurers and reinsurers (including those that redomesticate to Rhode Island) to enter into a commutation plan for their run-off business.  Under such a plan, the insurer/reinsurer agrees to pay policyholders/cedents the estimated value of their claims as of a set date in exchange for extinguishing the right to make any future claims. …
Read More Rhode Island Statute Allowing for the Commutation of a Solvent Insurer’s Run-Off Business Held Constitutional

CMS RELEASES FY 2012 PROPOSED RULE FOR HOSPITAL PAYMENTS:

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its annual inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) proposed rule that determines Medicare reimbursements for the upcoming fiscal year. Under the proposed rule, Medicare payments to acute care hospitals for inpatient services in fiscal year (FY) 2012 would decrease by a projected $498 million, or 0.5 percent. …
Read More Healthcare Update: CMS Releases FY 2012 Proposed Rules for Hospitals and Rehab Facilities; Supreme Court Decides Not To Fast-Track Healthcare Lawsuit

The Vermont House of Representatives has passed legislation, H.438 (the “Bill”), that would allow for the incorporation of protected cells.  Under current Vermont law (Title 8, Section 6034) protected cells may be formed, but they are not officially recorded as existing legal entities with the Secretary of State. …
Read More Vermont Considering Legislation To Expand Captive Insurance Market

As reported in our February 15, 2011, and March 1, 2011, Client Advisories, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo released a bill on February 1, as part of his 2011-2012 budget, proposing to merge the State’s Insurance and Banking Departments. On March 31, 2011, the Governor signed the budget into law, including the final version of the merger legislation, entitled the Financial Services Law (the “FSL”), which, effective October 2011, will consolidate the Insurance and Banking Departments into a new, single agency to be known as the Department of Financial Services (the “DFS”). This Client Advisory describes some of the provisions of the adopted legislation most likely to affect individual entities or the industry as a whole. …
Read More Client Advisory – New York Enacts Legislation to Merge the Insurance and Banking Departments

Thanks to the Supreme Court’s ruling in AT&T Mobility LLC v. Concepcion, businesses now have a mechanism to insulate themselves from costly class actions. In Concepcion, the Court considered whether states can invalidate arbitration agreements that prohibit class arbitration proceedings. …
Read More Client Advisory – Supreme Court Ruling Deals a Blow to Consumer Class Actions

The Massachusetts Attorney General appears to have broken new ground with a recent enforcement action and fine against Briar Group, LLC, a restaurant chain that sustained a security breach exposing credit and debit card data. …
Read More Client Advisory – Massachusetts Attorney General Breaking New Ground in Data Security Enforcement?

In a judgment handed down on 20 April 2011, the High Court dismissed a judicial review application made by the British Bankers Association (BBA) against complaints handling rules relating to the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI).  Please click here to view a copy of the judgment. …
Read More UK: High Court Sides With FSA in Judicial Review Regarding Payment Protection Insurance

The New York Appellate Division for the First Department recently reversed a decision of a lower court that had granted summary judgment to the plaintiff, an excess insurer, on a count of insurance bad faith against a primary insurer. Federal Ins. Co. v. North Amer. Spec. Ins. Co. et al., Docket No. 603926/05 (N.Y.A.D., 1st Dep’t, April 5, 2011). …
Read More New York Appellate Court Reverses Judgment of Insurance Bad Faith and Remands for Additional Fact-finding

A state’s highest court generally gets to have the last word on insurance policy interpretation.  Recently, however, the South Carolina Senate asserted its right to override this judicial prerogative.  Following a decision of the South Carolina Supreme Court regarding the meaning of “occurrence,” the South Carolina Senate approved a bill that would significantly broaden the definition of “occurrence” in the context of liability policies covering construction professionals. …
Read More South Carolina Senate Moves to Override State High Court and Expand Interpretation of “Occurrence” to Include Damage Resulting From Faulty Workmanship