Declarations

Surplus Battle

“It’s pretty much as outrageously unconstitutional, illegal and in-your-face as it gets.”

—Kevin Fitzgerald, a lawyer for the policyholders of New Hampshire’s Joint Underwriting Association (JUA), a state-created medical malpractice insurance fund from which lawmakers are trying to take $110 million in policyholders’ surplus money. The Supreme Court rejected the state’s attempt to do so earlier this year and policyholders were expecting the money to be paid out as a dividend – until the state’s insurance department ordered the fund not to do so. Policyholders are now taking the case back to court.

Paperwork Pileups

“The people who wrote these regulations clearly aren’t on the front lines of an agency giving people quotes.”

—Frank Mancini, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Association of Insurance Agents, commenting on a proposal by the Attorney General Martha Coakley to reform the state’s personal auto insurance system. Agents fear the changes would create significant paperwork problems and have no added benefit for customers.

Golf Cart Crash Test

“It definitely taught me to be careful and not to text while driving because I’m going to kill somebody.”

—Vermont teenager Kamy Mayott, who recently completed a unique, driver-education program in which students navigate a golf cart through an obstacle course while texting on their mobile phones. Mayottt took out a whole row of orange cones. Officials hope the program will discourage teens from texting while driving, which has been banned in Vermont and 25 other states.

Lapsed Judgment

“This is now the fourth time Congress will have let this program lapse and it’s beginning to feel like Groundhog’s Day.”

—Blain Rethmeier of the American Insurance Association, commenting on the lapsing of the National Flood Insurance Program shortly before the Memorial Day weekend. The AIA and other groups are calling on lawmakers to create a better, long-term solution for maintaining the federally administered flood insurance program.

Topics Legislation