Risk Management

The New York State Insurance Department announced that Martin A. Schwartzman has been named to the newly created post of deputy superintendent for strategic planning and market Initiatives.

Insurers keep shooting themselves in the foot, with the latest example how they handed President Obama fresh ammunition on health insurance reform by sending individual rates soaring, says NU Editor Sam Friedman on his blog at www.NUSamSoapBox.com.

The government extends secondary payer deadline to 2011.

The insurance market for social service facilities on both ends of the age spectrum is experiencing the same soft market conditions already dominating most lines of commercial coverage.

Only State Farm has unearthed data linking auto accident claims to problems involving cars and trucks manufactured by Toyota, but industry statistics are still likely to be aired during two House hearings on the issue this week.

The federal government has pushed back the deadline for reporting requirements under the Medicare Secondary Payer Act until next January, a decision greeted with relief by workers' compensation providers and self-insured risk managers.

Congress will act to extend the National Flood Insurance Program before its current authorization expires on Feb. 28, but such reauthorization will not be included in jobs legislation as originally planned, industry lobbyists said late last week.

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) released a consulting firm study that concluded any new legislation regulating the financial system based on the size of financial institutions would be unfair.