Supreme Court Upholds Healthcare Law..

The U.S Supreme Court today upheld the individual mandate that is the centerpiece of President Obama’s healthcare reform law.

The court has upheld most of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act but did find the Medicaid expansion provision opposed by a number of states violates the Constitution.Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal June 28, 2012)

 

Travelers Insurance Wins in Court !

A federal appeals court said an insurance company doesn’t have to pay $1.75 million in damages as part of a settlement involving privately owned juvenile detention facilities in northeastern Pennsylvania.

Travelers Property Casualty Co. claimed it was free from paying damages under a policy held by developer Robert Mericle in a juvenile justice scandal that landed two former Luzerne County judges in jail.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals panel agreed last Thursday Travelers didn’t have to pay Mericle’s damages because he knowingly committed the acts that led to the suit. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal, June 25, 2012)

Health Insurers to Rebate $1.1 Billion..

U.S. health insurance companies are due to pay out $1.1 billion in rebates to employers and individuals this summer, under a new industry regulation imposed by President Barack Obama’s health care law, the administration said on Thursday.

But whether the rebates actually reach those recipients depends on if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in a ruling expected by the end of next week, experts said. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal, June 22, 2012)

How Predictive Modeling Has Revolutionized Insurance...

The use of predictive modeling has forever changed the way insurance policies are priced. The revolutionary tool allows insurers to design ever-more-sophisticated models that tap ever-more-detailed data sets to refine precisely how much each customer should be charged.

Casualty actuaries got an overview of how far the revolution has come and how it will continue to change insurance pricing at the session “The Revolution and Evolution of Predictive Modeling” presented at the Casualty Actuarial Society Spring Meeting, in Phoenix recently. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal , June 18, 2012)

Agencies seek comment on three notices..

The office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) are seeking comment on three notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRs) that would revise and replace the agencies' current capital rules. The agencies also announced the finalization of the market risk capital rule that was proposed in 2011. Read more...

(Ref: FDIC; Press Release June 12, 2012) 

UK Insurers Face Floods Losses; May Raise Premiums...

British insurers face big claims for flooding after the heavy rainfalls across the country this month, making it harder for them to hit profit targets and potentially forcing them to raise premium rates for consumers, analysts said on Tuesday.

Hundreds of people were evacuated in west Wales at the weekend after floods swamped caravan parks and homes, and scores more were hit by smaller inundations in parts of England, according to media reports.  

Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal June 12, 2012)

 

Will There Ever Be a United States of Europe?

From recent news you will have learned that the euro zone crisis continues to be the 700 pound gorilla in the room of the global economy. It’s become increasingly clear that, whatever happens in Greece on June 17, the euro zone countries must undertake the most significant reforms in the way they operate since the common currency was introduced in 2001, if a train wreck of global proportions is to be avoided. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal, June 6, 2012)

Chinese Drivers Pose Fresh Risks for Foreign Insurers..

“People like us who buy Ferraris don’t care too much about insurance because we buy cars for speeding,” said Li, in his twenties and the son of a Pearl River Delta factory owner, as he took delivery of a new 5 million yuan ($787,500) 458 Spider, his fourth red Ferrari. “If we crash, we just throw them away.” Drivers like Li, who gave only his family name, illustrate the challenges that big global insurers such as Allianz , AXA and Chartis face as they move further into China under new rules allowing foreign firms to offer a full range of insurance products in the world’s largest car market.

One of the main reasons foreign insurers’ market share is so small is the limits China imposes on their growth. Foreign insurers must apply to open new branches, and approval for each branch can take 12-18 months. Read more...

(Ref: Insurance Journal, June 5, 2012)