Last week Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley announced that Elizabeth “Beth” Sammis has been appointed as Interim Commissioner of the Maryland Insurance Administration (“MIA”).  Ms. Sammis will replace Ralph S. Tyler, who announced that he would step down from his position as Maryland Insurance Commissioner to accept the position of Chief Legal Counsel to the federal Food and Drug Administration effective January 8, 2010. 

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Read More Interim Maryland Insurance Commissioner Named

The House returned to session last week, as intense negotiations continued behind the scenes on an agreement that will reconcile the differences between the House- and Senate-passed healthcare reform bills.  On Thursday, a compromise was reached on one of the Senate bill’s more controversial provisions, smoothing a possible path toward a final agreement in the coming weeks. 

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Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – January 19, 2010

As of Sunday January 17, 2010, foreign reinsurers will be permitted access to a larger portion of the Brazilian reinsurance market as local reinsurers’ right of first refusal will be reduced from 60% of risks in the market to only 40%. …
Read More Foreign Reinsurers Receive Greater Access To Brazilian Market

In Lord Justice Jackson’s final report on his year-long review into costs he has recommended that after-the-event (ATE) insurance premiums should no longer be recoverable from unsuccessful opponents in civil litigation. 

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Read More UK: Jackson LJ’s Review of Litigation Costs Criticizes ATE Insurance

While the amount of damages and casualties from Tuesday’s magnitude-7 earthquake in Haiti continue to escalate, various reports have indicated that very little of this damage will be covered by insurance.  This is because Haiti is the poorest country and one of the smallest insurance markets in the Western Hemisphere. 

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Read More Reports – Minimal Insurance Coverage for Damages from Haitian Earthquake

The Chilean Insurance Association recently released predictions that the country’s insurance market will grow by 3.7% in 2010 and 6.7% in 2011.  In particular, Jorge Claude, the president of the association, reportedly stated that the group expects life insurance premiums to grow 2.9% in 2010 and 5.8% in 2011. …
Read More Latin America Update: Growth Numbers and Predictions for Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela

The New York Insurance Department (the “Department”) recently issued a draft Supplement No. 1 to Circular Letter No. 20 (2008) (“CL No. 20”) regarding insurance contract certainty for property/casualty insurance policies and reinsurance contracts.  The Department is requesting comments on its draft by January 22, 2010. …
Read More Circular Letter Regarding Contract Certainty Issued for Comment by the New York Insurance Department

The New York Times is reporting on a January 8, 2010, letter from NAMIC to the NAIC responding to the request by the Climate Change and Global Warming Task force for comments on issues concerning the proposed Insurer Climate Risk Disclosure Survey. 

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Read More NAMIC Issues Letter to NAIC Noting Its Observations on Current Controversy Surrounding Climate Change Science