A bipartisan briefing was held for House of Representatives staff on March 1, in order to hear the concerns of durable medical equipment (DME) suppliers with regard to the new Medicare DME competitive bidding program. …
Read More Healthcare Update: DME Concerns; Combating Hospital-Acquired Infections; PPACA Revisions; Meaningful Use Concerns

New Jersey state officials are currently negotiating with a group of 20 insurance companies to reclaim $161.9 million that was paid to insure the Hudson River tunnel project. …
Read More New Jersey Seeks Refunds for $161.9 Million Paid in Insurance Premiums on Scrapped Tunnel Project

On February 17, 2011, the New York Court of Appeals issued a unanimous opinion holding that “an insurance broker does not have a common-law fiduciary duty to disclose to its customers ‘incentive’ arrangements that the broker has entered into with insurance companies.”  In People ex rel. Cuomo v. Wells Fargo Insurance Services Inc., a case brought by the New York Attorney General, the court refuted the plaintiff’s argument that a fiduciary duty is inherent because brokers maintain a principal-agent relationship with their customers. …
Read More New York Court of Appeals: Brokers Have No Common-Law Fiduciary Duty to Disclose Incentive Arrangements

In Aviva Insurance Limited v Roger George Brown [2011] EWHC 362 QB, Mr Justice Eder was asked to consider a claim by Aviva for the recovery of sums it had paid to an insured under a home insurance policy (the Policy) on the basis that the paid claims were fraudulent. …
Read More UK: English Court Considers Recovery by an Insurer of Sums Paid on Account of a Fraudulent Claim

In an unpublished opinion released earlier this year, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit emphasized the primacy of the actual words used in a D&O insurance policy.  The decision is notable because it reflects a continued emphasis by courts on the language used in the policy that the insured actually bought, and because the court unflinchingly employs a plain-language analysis to reach its conclusions as to coverage. …
Read More Third Circuit D&O Decision Underlines Primacy of Exclusionary Language

In response to country-wide turmoil and civil unrest and growing reports of deadly attacks by the Libyan government upon protesters, on February 25, 2011, President Barack Obama by Executive Order imposed broad economic sanctions against Muammar Qadhafi and his sons, senior officials of the Libyan government, persons involved in human rights abuses in Libya, persons providing financial or other support to Colonel Qadhafi, his family, the Libyan government or those violating human rights, persons owned or controlled by or acting on behalf of any of such persons and the families of any of such persons (“Blocked Libyan Person(s)”). …
Read More President Obama imposes Sanctions on Libya

We have reported previously on proposals for reform of the UK’s financial services regulatory structure (click here to see our most recent post, and here for a detailed introduction to the proposals in the December 2010 edition of our Insurance and Reinsurance Review). The UK Treasury has now issued a further consultation paper (dated February 2011) discussing its proposals in greater detail. …
Read More UK Treasury Issues Further Consultation on Regulatory Reform

In Association belge des Consommateurs Test-Achats ASBL v Conseil des ministres [2001] C-236/09 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled that taking the gender of an insured individual into account as a risk factor in setting premiums for insurance contracts constituted discrimination and was in breach of EU rules on equality. …
Read More EU: ECJ Gender Ruling to Increase Costs of Insurance

Kenneth Feinberg, the administrator of BP PLC’s $20 billion claim fund, recently stated that it is too soon to say whether liability payments related to the Deepwater Horizon disaster will end up exhausting all of the $20 billion BP set aside for all claims. …
Read More Deepwater Horizon Disaster: How’s BP’s $20 Billion Claim Fund Holding Up?

Thomas Considine, the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Insurance and Banking (the “NJDIBC”), recently stated in an interview with an insurance industry trade publication, that without uniform national standards for insurance regulations, the industry will continue to lobby for federal regulation. …
Read More New Jersey Insurance Commissioner Favors National Standards for Insurance Regulation, Notes Benefits from Fraud Enforcement Changes