Va. college students celebrating health reform’s six-month mark

College students across Virginia will celebrate the six-month milestone of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Sept. 23.   Read Story

U.S. Senate gives its approval to one-year NFIP extension

The U.S. Senate has approved extending the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) for one year.   Read Story

PMA Capital’s shareholders approve Old Republic’s bid

A Blue Bell, Pa.-based property-casualty insurer says its shareholders have approved its sales to Old Republic International Corp., according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.  Read Story

NAIFA extends online continuing education deal with CEAuthority

National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors’ members will have access to online continuing education through an extension of its partnership with RegEd for its CEAuthority courses.   Read Story

Palisades launches iPhone app for its New Jersey customers

Palisades, a Berkeley Heights, N.J.-based insurer, has launched an iPhone application for its customers in New Jersey.  Read Story

Insurer fined $100,000 in Minn. over its medical discount plans

National Union Fire Insurance Co. was fined $100,000 after being accused of using deceptive advertising to sell unapproved “medical discount plans” in Minnesota.  Read Story

Calif. Blue Shield ‘disappointed’ by doctors’ suit over online ratings

Blue Shield of California says it is “disappointed” that the California Medical Association has sued to get the insurer to stop using its new online doctor ratings system.  Read Story

Woman who plotted deaths for life insurance, estate nears execution

Teresa Lewis is scheduled for a Sept. 23 execution for hiring to men to kill her husband and stepson eight years ago so she could collect on the younger man’s life insurance policy and her husband’s estate.  Read Story

Included in President Obama’s nearly 200-page 2011 budget is a proposal often called “the reinsurance tax.” The proposal would eliminate the current tax deduction for excess premiums paid by insurers to offshore reinsurance affiliates. The move to eliminate this deduction is not new—it has been around for at least ten years. President Obama used the issue in his campaign, criticizing Sen. John McCain for wanting to “protect tax breaks for American corporations that hide their profits offshore.” But like any tax increase, someone has to pay it—in this case, property owners in catastrophe-prone states.  Read Story

IBC launches 25 health care plans for small businesses

Independence Blue Cross is introducing Blue Solutions, a group of 25 new health care plans for small businesses, available Oct. 1.  Read Story