Regulation/Legislation

The New York Insurance Department has issued a legal ruling that with certain restrictions a property and casualty insurer can pay claims by issuing prepaid debit cards rather than checks if the claimant agrees.

New York Gov. David A. Paterson said he will push to revive the defunct New York Insurance Exchange to help "maintain New York's status as the financial capital of the world."

Insurance agents and brokers should focus on the medical loss ratio benchmark set for carriers in health care reform legislation because that will determine their future commissions.

Although the phrase has become a clich? and is grossly overused, it is appropriate to use the term "too-big-to-fail" in describing the ultimate fate of the health care reform bill passed by the Senate on Christmas Eve.

Two big challenges for the London Market this year--modernization and the European Union's new Solvency II regulations--will be closely linked and interdependent, International Underwriting Association's chief executive in London predicted.

Lapse of the estate tax as of Jan. 1 has many insurance agencies concerned with inheritance issues, according to one major producer association.