Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com

About the Author

Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com

Regulatory & Compliance News Editor for LifeHealthPro.com, Arthur “Dave” Postal is a veteran reporter covering Washington, D.C. and federal insurance regulation. He has more than 30 years of experience in financial journalism, and is well-known in Washington circles as a dogged enterprise reporter with a knack for highlighting forward-looking trend analysis on regulatory matters. He also writes for National Underwriter Life & Health magazine and can be reached at apostal@sbmedia.com.

• Wells Fargo, QBE Agree on $19.3M Force-Placed Settlement

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 17, 2013

  Wells Fargo and QBE have agreed to settle a lawsuit dealing with force-placed insurance policies in Florida involving 24,000 borrowers.

• Overall U.S. Workers Comp Industry 'Encouraging': NCCI

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 17, 2013

  Net written premiums in the U.S. workers compensation market increased 9 percent, the second straight year premiums increased, says NCCI.

• New Medicare Secondary Payer Amendment Proposed

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 16, 2013

  Congress is again being asked to amend the Medicare Secondary Payment Act, just six months after enacting reform legislation dealing with the issue, which took five years to pass congressional muster.

• National Flood Services to Acquire CSC’s Flood Insurance BPO Unit

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 16, 2013

  CSC, which handles NFIP-Direct for the Federal Emergency Management Agency has been acquired by the company which does most of the back-office work for 50 Write-Your-Own companies.

• Effort to Delay Some NFIP Rate Hikes Dies in Congress, For Now

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 15, 2013

  An effort to delay federal flood insurance rate hikes on “grandfathered” properties for five years was rejected by the Senate late Tuesday.

• Appeals Court: Medicare Secondary Payer Act Doesn't Preempt State Law

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 15, 2013

  Medicare does not preempt state workers compensation laws that establish rules dealing with the handling of medical claims, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

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  House, Senate Propose Generous Farm Bills

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 14, 2013

  Crop insurance coverage appears likely to be expanded as House and Senate committees again take up providing 5-year reauthorization of farm programs.

• NFIP Rate Hike Delay Unlikely

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 13, 2013

  Members of the Senate are scrambling in advance of a May 14 vote to craft an amendment dealing with politically-sensitive hikes in federal flood insurance premiums that would retain the rate structure imposed by a previous law to extend the program.

• Senate Majority Leader Seeks Compromise on Bill to Delay NFIP Rate Hikes

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 10, 2013

  Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is taking extraordinary steps to force a compromise on a proposed amendment to pending legislation that would indefinitely delay politically-sensitive hikes in flood insurance premiums scheduled to go into effect next year.

• Federal Bills Incentivize States to Adopt Uniform Building Codes

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 9, 2013

  Legislation has been introduced in both the House and Senate aimed at providing additional incentives for states to adopt and enforce uniform building codes.

• Louisiana Senators Push for Delay in NFIP Rate Hikes

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 8, 2013

  Louisiana’s two senators are proposing an indefinite delay to flood insurance premium hikes mandated by legislation enacted in 2012.

• Oklahoma Bill Partially Privatizes Last-Resort WC Insurer

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 8, 2013

  The Oklahoma legislature passed legislation partially privatizing CompSource, but AIA says it's not a true privatization because the state will maintain substantive control over it.

• Fitch Sounds Alarm on Impact of Not Renewing TRIA

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 7, 2013

  Fitch Ratings is warning that failure to renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act could reduce product capacity in larger metropolitan areas, raising premium rates.

• The Assault on State-Regulated Workers' Comp

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 6, 2013

  A critical component of our national “safety net,” the state-regulated workers’ compensation system, is being besieged, another victim of politicians reaching everywhere to generate short-term benefits by increasing services without raising taxes.

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  Ohio Bureau of Workers Comp Looking to Rebate $1B in Premiums

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 3, 2013

  The Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation is moving to rebate $1 billion in workers compensation premiums to employers in the state.

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  As Federal Crop Insurance Costs Rise, Report Questions Effectiveness

  By Arthur D. Postal, PropertyCasualty360.com  |  May 2, 2013

  A new report takes issue with the current structure of the federal crop insurance program, arguing that in many cases it allows growers to make more money from insurance payouts than they would from a healthy harvest.