Latest Montana Headlines
All the headlines from our Montana Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Montana Announces Proposed Asbestos Settlement With W.R. Grace
Jun 11 2008 // Montana’s Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comment on a proposed settlement agreement with W.R. Grace & Co. that would provide the agency more than $5 million for costs related to the cleanup of...
Montana Doctor Settles Three Malpractice Lawsuits
Jun 11 2008 // A Billings, Mont., physician and anesthesiologist who treated patients with chronic pain has recently settled three medical malpractice lawsuits that claimed the doctor’s negligence resulted in death. Dr. David...
Montana High Court Rejects Compensation Board’s Lawsuits
Jun 9 2008 // The Montana Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s rulings against the state Petroleum Tank Release Compensation Board. The board had sued four insurance companies for compensation for more than $2 million in...
Montana State Fund Launches Young Worker Safety Campaign
Jun 6 2008 // Nearly 1,000 young Montana workers ages16 to 24 year old are injured on-the-job each year, according to the Montana State Fund. The state workers’ compensation insurer’s statistics show that that same age group...
Montana’s Insurance Regulator Wants to Open Insurer Data
Jun 2 2008 // Montana’s insurance regulator John Morrison, said he wants to give consumers information on the conduct of insurance companies. Morrison said consumers could check to see how often a company cancels policies, delays...
Montana State Fund Says Workers’ Comp Rates to Drop Next Year
May 19 2008 // The Montana State Fund is cutting workers’ compensation insurance rates by an average of 3 percent next year, the agency’s board said. This is the second year in a row the State Fund, a semiprivate branch of...
Northwestern Montana Flooding Predicted as Temperatures Rise
May 13 2008 // Some northwestern Montana rivers and streams are likely to flood by next weekend as temperatures rise and part of the mountain snowpack melts, the National Weather Service says. Emergency-services workers met May 9 in...
Montana Auditor To Negotiate Insurance in China
May 12 2008 // Montana State Auditor John Morrison will represent U.S. insurance regulators in the U.S.-China Insurance Dialogues in Hangzhou, China, this week. The dialogues, part of trade negotiations between the two countries, are...
Montana State Fund Says Workers’ Comp Rates to Drop Next Year
May 12 2008 // The Montana State Fund is cutting workers’ compensation insurance rates by an average of 3 percent next year, the agency’s board said. This is the second year in a row the State Fund, a semiprivate branch of...
Appeals Court Sides with Forest Service in 2000 Montana Backfires
Apr 29 2008 // U.S. Forest Service firefighters have the discretion to determine the best way to fight fires and cannot be sued for negligence for setting a backfire in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley in 2000 to try to stop an...
New Markets
Apr 21 2008 // The following markets were selected from the MyNewMarkets database of 25,000 coverages and programs. To find additional markets, or to submit markets, go to www.MyNewMarkets.com. Liquor Liability Coverage Nuts &...
Montana Republican Criticizes Bush Administration Proposal
Apr 4 2008 // The Republican candidate for Montana state auditor and insurance commissioner is criticizing plans by the Bush Administration for the federal government to take over regulation of the insurance industry. Duane Grimes says...
Montana Files Brief with Supreme Court in Insurance Lawsuit
Apr 3 2008 // Montana State Insurance Commissioner John Morrison has filed a friend-of-the-court brief in a legal dispute before the U.S. Supreme Court over an insurance company’s dual role of paying disability benefits and...
Fire Report Warns Montana Towns Will Burn Without Changes
Apr 2 2008 // A draft legislative report warns it’s likely Montana towns will burn and people will be injured or killed if the state does not change the way it deals with wildland fires. The report was released by the Fire...
Feds Hint at Compromise with States over Real ID National License
Mar 24 2008 // There are signs of a potential compromise to end the Bush administration’s standoff with states resisting new standards for driver’s licenses. For people who live in those holdout states, the dispute raises the...
Six Seek Interim Director Position at North Dakota Workers’ Comp Agency
Mar 18 2008 // Six people, including a one-time Fargo mayor and a former vice president at Montana’s workers’ compensation fund, have applied to be the interim chief executive officer of North Dakota’s Workforce Safety...
Montana Insurance Auditor Named Chair of NAIC Market Regulation Committee
Mar 11 2008 // Montana State Auditor John Morrison has been named chair of the Market Regulation and Consumer Affairs Committee of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. Morrison will lead the committee’s oversight of...
Feds to Holdout States: Adopt National Real ID License Program Now
Mar 6 2008 // Homeland Security officials are pushing recalcitrant states to adopt stricter driver’s license standards to end a standoff that could disrupt domestic air travel. States have less than a month to send a letter to the...
Judge Upholds Montana’s Decision to Ban ‘Discretionary Clauses’
Mar 6 2008 // A federal judge has upheld a ruling by State Insurance Commissioner John Morrison prohibiting “discretionary clauses” in group health and disability insurance policies in Montana. The ruling by U.S. District...
Mont. Appoints Matthews as Captive Coordinator
Feb 1 2008 // The Montana Captive Insurance Association Inc. appointed Steve Matthews as captive insurance coordinator for the Montana State Auditor’s (SAO) office. Matthews will also retain his duties as the SAO’s chief...
