Employers across the country in each of the 13 industry sectors plan to hire more employees in this quarter, meaning a possible boost in insurance activity.

The 2011 Atlantic Regional Life and Health Underwriters Conference will be held at the Tropicana Resort and Casino in Atlantic City, N.J., from May 9-11.

Connecticut’s insurance commissioner has issued a cease and desist order against companies in New Jersey and North Carolina, and against a New Jersey man for marketing limited health benefit plans in the state without licenses.

Curt Pearsall, founder and principal of a Whitesboro, N.Y., insurance consulting firm, was elected president of the American Insurance Marketing & Sales (AIMS) Society, a professional organization dedicated to building insurance sales, marketing and technical expertise

AmeriHealth New Jersey is introducing a new network option, AmeriHealth New Jersey Value Network, April 1, according to the health insurer.

A Willingboro, N.J., woman pleaded guilty to stealing more than $9,000 in disability benefits paid by The Hartford Insurance Co. by impersonating a doctor’s office employee and forging a doctor’s signature.

United Fire & Casualty Co. completed its acquisition of Mercer Insurance Group, a New Jersey-based insurance company, for $191 million.

Aetna sued six out-of-network doctors in New Jersey, whose bills for care for the insurer’s patients, including one for $56,980 for a bedside consultation, were “unlawful and excessive.”

A medical jet company sued Woodland Parks, N.J., which refused to pay a $433,525 bill for flying its police chief home from an Idaho cancer treatment center after its insurer allegedly refused responsibility.

Independent Health Association ranked highest in member satisfaction with health plans in the New York-New Jersey region for a second consecutive year, according to an annual survey.