Property-casualty insurers safe from U.S. default in ‘near term’

A possible U.S. government default on its debts, if the federal debt ceiling is not increased, will not “in the near term” hurt the property-casualty insurance sector, according to a financial analysis firm.  Read Story

Supreme Court asked to review health reform law challenge from Mich.

The parties that filed a Michigan challenge to the federal health reform law passed last year have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision deeming the law constitutional.   Read Story

WACO – The State Securities Commission has filed a lawsuit against Waco-based Life Partners Holdings.

NORCAL Mutual acquires Medicus Insurance to grow nationally

NORCAL Mutual Insurance Co., a San Francisco-based carrier that operates a Pennsylvania insurer, is buying with Medicus Insurance Co. to expand its reach nationally.  Read Story

Thanks largely to lower-than-expected costs related to the settlement of a Louisiana lawsuit, Coventry Health Care’s second-quarter profit jumped to $224.5 million from just $1.0 million a year earlier, executives ...  Read →  Read Story

Former Virginia insurance commissioner Al Gross dies

Alfred W. Gross, one of the longest serving insurance commissioners in the U.S., died this week, less than seven months after he gave up his post has Virginia's insurance regulator.  Read Story

New investors see life settlements as hedge against U.S. debt default

Life settlements are becoming an increasingly appealing option for investors who fear the recent volatility of the stock market combined with the globalization of financial markets, according to a Dallas-based company that trains life settlement brokers.  Read Story

FINRA warns of desperate investors ‘chasing returns’ at own peril

Investors should stop “chasing returns” and remember to be careful when dealing with riskier, complex products that promise higher returns than traditional investments, a financial authority warns.  Read Story

Insurer fights paying Sony cyber insurance after hacking

An insurer for Sony Corp. asked a court to excuse it from paying the conglomerate's legal defense after a data breach in April, and challenged Sony's other insurers to define the extent of their coverage.  Read Story

NFIB: White House’s small biz health insurance tax credit numbers off

The National Federation of Independent Business has a bone to pick with the Obama Administration’s estimates of how many small business owners will qualify for new health insurance tax credits.  Read Story