eCTPL program implemented today.
Accredited insurance companies will start implementing today the enhanced Compulsory Third Party Liability Program (eCTPL) for public utility vehicles (PUVs). It will resolve the anxieties of the public transport sector and the riding public on the malpractices in the old CTPL system. The government, through...

Workers' comp on the mend.
THE HANDS THAT WERE WRINGING NOT LONG AGO OVER THE WORKERS' COMP MESS ARE NOW APPLAUDING CALIFORNIA'S REFORMS. What if one of those typically outrageous bills for the rent, the heat or the car insurance showed up in your mailbox this month asking for $50 less than usual? ...

The role of U.S. insurance regulators in responding to climate change.
ABSTRACT: This article addresses three key issues set forth in the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) Climate Change & Global Warming Task Force charter: 1. Implications of climate change on the insurance sector 2. Insurers' knowledge of potential climate change impacts ...

Health plans' claims for reimbursement from personal injury recovery: recent ERISA rulings, unanswered questions: healthcare plan reimbursement has been a contentious issue for plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers and plan counsel alike. The United States Supreme Court's recent Sereboff decision answered some questions, but others remain.
Generally, health insurance (or self-funded benefits) provided by an employer or an employee organization to the employees and their dependents is governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act ("ERISA"), 29 USC section 1001 et seq. Individual health insurance policies, group health insurance policies that are not employment related,...

Perverse incentive; Federal flood insurance program subsidizes risk.
COLUMN: IN OUR OPINION With the Midwest trying to recover from devastating rains and the Gulf Coast still struggling to recover from the lethal one-two punch delivered by hurricanes Katrina and Rita two years ago, the threat of flooding to life and property has been much in...

Malayan Insurance bares Text Insure.
Insured ka na ba? This is a question often asked of Filipinos. Survey has it that less than 0.5 percent of Filipinos are covered by personal accident insurance. Accessibility and price are the major reasons for the very low percentage. Most Filipinos cannot afford to buy insurance....

Ex-governor, wife face extradition.
Extradition papers have been served on former Quezon governor Eduardo T. Rodriguez and his wife Imelda Gener Rodriguez following the filing of a petition for extradition against them before Branch 17 of the Regional Trial Court of Manila by the Government of the United States of America, represented by...

Myths and realities of car insurance.
The color of an automobile influences how much it costs to insure it. Comprehensive coverage protects drivers in all situations because, after all, it is "comprehensive." Car insurance companies can charge whatever they want. Have you ever thought one or more of these statements to be true? You are...

Regulating without a net: States must walk a tightrope of regulatory reform and consumer protections or risk losing their oversight of the nearly $1 trillion insurance industry.
When Kentucky Representative Steve Riggs discusses the value of state insurance regulation, he likes to tell the story of the Lakedreamland Volunteer Fire Department of Jefferson County. The small local company took out a group life insurance policy from an out-of-state company. Years passed until a tragic event took...

Do state parity laws reduce the financial burden on families of children with mental health care needs?
The intent of parity laws is to improve equity in private insurance coverage for mental health care. Health insurers have covered mental health care at a significantly lower level than coverage for other conditions for many years (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 1982; Jensen et al. 1998; Buck et...