Latest Massachusetts Headlines
All the headlines from our Massachusetts Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Mass. Commissioner Replaces 5 on Auto Plan Board
Jul 26 2004 // The Massachusetts high risk plan currently in the throes of changing from a reinsurance plan to an assigned risk plan now has five new governing committee members. Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has...
Industry, Consumer Interests Square-Off Over Mass. Auto High Risk Plan Changes
Jul 23 2004 // A parade of industry representatives urged Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler to approve rules to transform the state’s auto insurance high risk plan into an assigned risk model, but consumer groups...
Mass. Legislation Aims to Eliminate Confusion in Auto Insurance Billing
Jul 22 2004 // The Massachusetts Legislature has approved legislation that insurance agents hope will help eliminate confusion in auto insurance billing. The Massachusetts Senate on Wednesday joined the House in approving House Bill...
Mass. to Hear High Risk Auto Plan Tomorrow
Jul 21 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has scheduled a public hearing for July 22 to hear testimony on proposed rule changes to the state’s high risk auto facility. The changes were approved by...
Mass. Workers’ Comp Medical Costs Rise But Still Remain Among Lowest in WCRI Study
Jul 21 2004 // The average medical payment per claim for the care of injured workers in Massachusetts rose 13 percent in the most recent period studied, according to a new report by the Cambridge-based Workers Compensation Research...
MASS. TO HEAR HIGH RISK AUTO PLAN:
Jul 19 2004 // Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Julianne Bowler has scheduled a public hearing for July 22 to hear testimony on proposed rule changes to the state’s high risk auto facility. Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR),...
Trio of Mass. Agencies Agree to Provide Long-Term Care Disclosures to Residents
Jul 13 2004 // Three Massachusetts insurance agencies have agreed to each pay $2,500 in civil penalties and provide legally required information about long-term care insurance, under the terms of three separate assurances of...
At NAMIC, The Door’s Wide Open to Companies of All Sizes
Jul 5 2004 // Chairman Tim Hegarty Explains How His Trade Group Serves Big and Small Alike What happens when you put giants like State Farm, AIG, Nationwide and Liberty Mutual in a room with tiny farm mutuals like Husbandsmans Mutual,...
Passing in the Slow Lane
Jul 5 2004 // A number of years ago, very good friends of mine rallied their neighbors in an effort to improve their elementary school. With two young children of their own, they had a vested interest in a better school. But they and...
Mass. Seeks to Shake Image as Regulatory Outcast
Jul 5 2004 // Massachusetts officials, moving deliberately to change the image of the state as a regulatory nightmare for insurance companies and to re-make its systems to look more like those found elsewhere, are making progress even...
People and Places
Jul 5 2004 // Sidney Ferenc Sidney R. Ferenc and Steven M. Menzies were recently elected to new management positions by the board of directors of Applied Underwriters, headquartered in San Francisco. Ferenc assumes the position of...
Fireman’s Fund Threatens Exit from Mass. Auto Market
Jul 1 2004 // The Fireman’s Fund Insurance Companies has given notice to Massachusetts officials that it intends to withdraw from the state’s personal automobile insurance market on Dec. 31, 2004, because of continuing...
New Mass. Auto Plan On Way to Commissioner; New Safe Driver Plan Questioned
Jun 29 2004 // The board that oversees the Massachusetts auto insurance high risk facility, Commonwealth Auto Reinsurers (CAR), voted 11-2 in favor of final rules to convert the plan to an assigned risk plan on June 29. The CAR governing...
Woronoco Bank to Buy Colton Agency in Mass.
Jun 25 2004 // Woronoco Bancorp, Inc., the holding company for Woronoco Savings Bank, has signed an agreement to acquire The Colton Agency, Inc., an insurance agency located in Westfield, Mass. The bank plans to merge the agency with its...
Banknorth to Buy Drake, Swan & Crocker in Mass.
Jun 21 2004 // Portland, Me.-based Banknorth Group has signed a letter of intent to acquire Drake, Swan & Crocker Insurance Agency, Inc. of Orleans, Mass. The company expects to finalize the acquisition by July 1. Drake, Swan &...
Bikers’ Complaint Over Mass. Rates Nixed
Jun 18 2004 // Motorcycle drivers upset with the way insurance rates are set in Massachusetts lost a court bid to force the state to reconsider the fairness of its rating system. The Supreme Judicial Court dismissed the complaint by the...
R.I. Senate Backs Regional Health Plan
Jun 17 2004 // The Rhode Island Senate has approved legislation introduced by Sen. James C. Sheehan (D-Dist. 36) of Narragansett and North Kingstown to integrate Rhode Island’s insurance rules and regulations with those of...
Mass. May Cut Interest Paid on Med-Mal Awards
Jun 16 2004 // Leaders in the Massachusetts Legislature are mulling changes in the law governing medical malpractice lawsuits that would reduce the amount of money people harmed by malpractice will receive when they successfully sue, a...
Mass. Doesn’t Know What It’s Missing In Insurance, State Official Tells Boston CPCUs
Jun 14 2004 // Massachusetts consumers and lawmakers are often unaware of the insurance advantages enjoyed in other states or the problems within their own system and need to be educated about what they are missing, according to the head...
Mass. Lawmakers Approve Commercial Deregulation
Jun 11 2004 // The Massachusetts House and Senate have both approved legislation to deregulate insurance rates and forms for certain large commercial risks. The measure permits commercial accounts with more than $30,000 in premium that...
