Minnesota News

States Keep Looking for Ways to Expand Health Care Access

The national spotlight shone on Maine’s universal health care access program when it was launched two years ago. Policymakers nationwide watched to see if Dirigo Health would deliver on its promise to provide health care coverage to Maine’s uninsured. The …

Drunk Driving Death Rates Declined in 23 States Last Year

Drunken-driving deaths declined slightly across the nation in 2005, and the rate of drunken-driving deaths fell in 23 states, according to transportation officials. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reported that 23 states and Puerto Rico had a decrease in …

White Mountains Re Completes Mutual Service Casualty Acquisition

White Mountains Re Group, Ltd., announced from its Bermuda headquarters that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Folksamerica Reinsurance Company, has completed its acquisition of Mutual Service Casualty Insurance Company, a Minnesota-domiciled, runoff insurer formerly affiliated with Illinois-based Country Insurance & Financial Services. …

Minn. Taco John’s CEO Offers to Pay Medical Bills for E. Coli Victims

The head of Taco John’s International offered this week to pay medical bills for customers who got ill from E. coli bacteria at three of the chain’s Mexican restaurants. Some 76 people were sickened after eating at Taco John’s in …

Houston Nurse Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud

Texas Mutual Insurance Company reported that a Houston nurse has pleaded guilty to workers’ compensation fraud-related charges. The Travis County 299th Judicial District Court sentenced Brenda Hernandez to five years of deferred adjudication. The court also ordered Hernandez to perform …

State Preparations for Pandemic Flu Creative But Vary Widely

Trailers packed with cots and medical supplies are parked in secret locations around Colorado, ready for doctors to open makeshift hospitals in school gyms if a flu pandemic strikes. Parts of southeastern Washington are considering drive-thru flu shots during a …

Iowa Hawkeye-Security Insurance Expands Agent Network in Mo.

Hawkeye-Security Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, recently announced the recent appointment of six new agencies to its group of independent agents in Missouri. The following appointments broaden Hawkeye-Security Insurance’s personal and small-to-medium size commercial lines business in the …

National Group Says W.Va. is Getting Less Healthy

More West Virginians without health insurance and longtime problems with smoking and obesity have led a national group to drop the Mountain State’s ranking to 43rd healthiest in the country. That’s a drop of two places from last year’s study …

Employers offering health coverage in California declining

California has the most number of people without insurance coverage compared to any other state — and the number of employers offering health insurance plans is declining. According to a recent “Snapshot of California’s Uninsured” by the California HealthCare Foundation, …

New Markets

Monoline Auto Classes, Small Commercial Businesses Nuts & Bolts: Zurich’s small business agents now have more than 500 monoline auto classes to sell. The company has opened an additional 257 existing America Premier classes for monoline auto and added 238 …