Illinois News

American Westbrook Adds Binetti as Senior Sales Executive

American Westbrook Insurance Services, based in Westchester, Ill., has hired Frank C. Binetti as a senior sales executive on its benefits team. Binetti began his career at Banker’s Life and Casualty. He was recruited to create a newly-developed Benefits department …

How States Are Responding to Healthcare Reform Law

Many U.S. states are worried that the healthcare overhaul plan approved by the U.S. House of Representatives will usurp their sovereignty and impose more spending on their already stretched budgets. Republican attorneys general in at least 12 states announced on …

Republican Attorneys General Pursue Sovereignty Claim Against Health Bill

Republican attorneys general in at least 12 U.S. states warned Monday that lawsuits will be filed to stop the federal government’s healthcare reform bill from encroaching on states’ sovereignty. The lawsuits were announced hours after the U.S. House of Representatives …

Kerr Joins InsureZone/AgentSecure as VP of Business Development

Chad Kerr has joined Fort Worth, Texas-based InsureZone/AgentSecure as vice president of Business Development. Kerr will manage multiple facets of business development including the agencies affiliated with the recent CMS acquisition, the top tier of existing AgentSecure agents, and book …

Illinois Supreme Court Rules Against Insurer in Underinsured Motorist Case

The Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that an appellate court was correct when it found that an insurance company cannot exclude occupants of an insured vehicle from underinsured motorists coverage (UIM). The high court’s decision stems from a pair of …

Illinois Outlines Expected Changes Resulting from Health Insurance Reform

The Illinois Department of Insurance has developed a “Top Ten” list of changes to the performance, transparency and accountability of health insurers and health insurance products in Illinois expected to result from national health care reform. “While speculation and mythology …

It Figures

4.6% Nebraska’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.6 percent in January, still less than half the national rate of 9.7 percent, according to state officials. The preliminary December rate of 4.7 percent reported on Jan. 22 was revised to 4.6 …

Survey Ranks California’s Lawsuit Climate Among Worst in the Nation

A new national survey finds that California’s lawsuit climate is among the worst in the country and on par with states including Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia. Among local jurisdictions, Los Angeles’ courts were mentioned as the second worst in …

Declarations

Unfinished Work “This continuing decline in highway deaths is encouraging, but our work is far from over.” —National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland says the federal agency wants to see fatality rates drop further. The number of overall traffic …

People

Laura McCormick has joined Farmington Hills, Mich.-based Burns & Wilcox as a professional lines broker specializing in miscellaneous professional, environmental consultants, E&O and non-profit D&O. McCormick has been a deputized Lloyds Underwriter since 1990 and has 20 years’ experience accepting …