Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, is making another attempt to end the antitrust exemption accorded health insurers through the McCarran-Ferguson Act.

Business groups and insurers are mobilizing to defeat a proposed amendment to the financial services reform bill that would substantively expand the reach of private securities litigation.

Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., has introduced an amendment to financial services regulatory legislation now pending in the Senate that would drastically reduce the authority of the Office of National Insurance it would create.

A revenue-hungry Congress may finally move to impose higher taxes on offshore-based insurers this year, property and casualty insurance industry sources on both sides of the issue predict.

U.S. Senate Republicans believe failure to increase federal oversight of large insurance companies is a major deficiency of financial services reform legislation, questioning whether state guaranty funds are adequate to deal with large carrier failures.

Trade groups called on the Senate last week to reject an amendment to financial services reform legislation they charge would "substantially weaken" the ability of a proposed Office of National Insurance to address "critical" trade issues.

Anxiety is growing within the agent and broker community about rules in New York going into effect in January 2011, requiring them to disclose to their clients information about compensation received from insurers.

A bipartisan amendment to the financial services reform legislation in the U.S. Senate is aimed at exempting insurers from paying for the resolution of large non-insurance financial services companies.