Regulation/Legislation

The Alabama legislature, in a move drawing praise from an insurer group, has passed a bill to ban law enforcement from imposing accident response service fees.

State legislators and regulators are sparring with large insurance companies over whether Congress should create an office within the Treasury Department to monitor insurance activities.

A House bill that has drawn attention and some support from insurance groups to restrict the number of prescriptions issued for the pain killer OxyContin appears likely to face a difficult challenge to secure passage, Congress watchers said.

Willis Group Holdings said it will unveil an Internet-based campaign to educate insurance buyers about the conflicts of contingent commissions at the Risk and Insurance Management Society meeting in Boston.

Washington Governor Chris Gregoir is considering vetoing a provision of an appropriations bill that would transfer $10 million from the state's Insurance Commissioners Regulatory Account to the general fund, an official said.

Insurance trade groups are opposing a California bill, AB 1994, that would allow rebuttable presumption for some injuries suffered by hospital workers when they are seeking workers' compensation benefits.