More Insurance Coverage
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March 20, 2024
NY AG Scoffs At Trump's Claim Of 'Impossible' $465M Bond
The New York Attorney General's office on Wednesday disputed Donald Trump's claim that posting bond while he appeals a $465 million civil fraud judgment is a "practical impossibility," arguing the former president and his business empire haven't exhausted all avenues.
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March 20, 2024
Pa. Insurance Broker On Hook For Not Paying Real OT
A Pennsylvania-based insurance brokerage willfully violated federal wage law when it misrepresented overtime hours employees worked and otherwise dodged wage requirements, a federal judge ruled in a case brought by the U.S. Department of Labor.
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March 19, 2024
Minn. BCBS Wants Toss Of DOL's $66.8M Tax Liability Suit
An insurance company is urging a Minnesota federal judge to toss a U.S. Department of Labor suit alleging the company improperly collected at least $66.8 million in state tax liability from plans it administered to pay in-network providers, arguing plans allowed the practice and participants weren't injured.
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March 19, 2024
Trade Court Says US Demand For Garlic Bond Came Too Late
The U.S. Court of International Trade backed an insurance company's contention that the U.S. government waited eight years too long to demand payments for Chinese garlic imports the company covered, saying the government was contractually obligated to make a demand sooner.
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March 18, 2024
Tribal Health Groups Say IHS Owes $4M In Support Funding
Two tribal health groups serving parts of Alaska are suing the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services for failing to pay nearly $4 million in contract support costs for their delivery of services paid for with third-party revenue they collected, the subject of a matter now pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
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March 18, 2024
Trump Says He Can't Secure Bond For $465M Fraud Judgment
Former President Donald Trump told a New York appellate court Monday that posting bond while he appeals a $465 million judgment against him and his business empire for allegedly defrauding banks and insurers is a "practical impossibility."
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March 18, 2024
Insurer Settles Target Manager's Suit Over Disability Benefits
An insurance company reached a deal with a Target Corp. manager to end his lawsuit alleging the company unlawfully stopped the disability payments he was receiving to treat his post-traumatic stress disorder stemming from a George Floyd protest, a filing in Wisconsin federal court said.
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March 18, 2024
5th Circ. Revives Widows' Collections Suit Against Law Firm
The Fifth Circuit has revived a proposed class action against Louisiana law firm Shows Cali & Walsh LLP regarding its efforts to recoup grant funds awarded in connection with Hurricane Katrina, saying a reasonable jury could find the law firm violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.
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March 18, 2024
Decline In EBSA Funding May Hurt Mental Health Parity Efforts
The U.S. Department of Labor's employee benefits arm warned Congress in its latest budget request that it may have to scale back its efforts to implement federal mental health parity laws and the No Surprises Act by 2025.
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March 18, 2024
4th Circ. Preview: Airport Mishap, Inmate Pay Launch March
The Fourth Circuit's spring session will task the court with refereeing a power struggle between Virginia regulators and the authority that runs Washington, D.C.'s airports — stemming from a workplace amputation — and delving into the "honest belief" doctrine's role in a Family Medical Leave Act case.
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March 15, 2024
Insurance Mogul Hit With $500K Judgment For Website Co.
The legal woes of embattled North Carolina insurance mogul Greg Lindberg were compounded when a federal judge ordered him and one of his companies to pay nearly half a million dollars, including interest and attorney fees, to an internet marketing company for a payment he missed following his sentencing on federal bribery charges.
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March 15, 2024
9th Circ. Pauses Benefits Case Awaiting UBH Challenge
The Ninth Circuit has told a trial court to halt what United Behavioral Health has called an improper revival of a proposed class action alleging the insurance company illegally denied coverage for mental health and substance abuse treatment.
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March 15, 2024
Justices Told Estate Incorrectly Taxed On Insurance Payout
The federal government's argument that the $3.5 million in life insurance proceeds a company used to redeem a deceased owner's shares increased both the company's value and its dead owner's estate tax liability ignores "economic reality," the estate told the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday.
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March 15, 2024
Wash. Justices Affirm Condo's Roof Damage Coverage Win
A resulting loss exception in a condominium complex's policy with Farmers Insurance Exchange preserves coverage for damage caused by potentially covered perils, such as condensation and water vapor, even though the loss resulted from excluded faulty workmanship, the Washington Supreme Court unanimously ruled.
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March 15, 2024
Attys, Broker Fight For Advice-Of-Counsel Defense In Tax Trial
Two St. Louis attorneys and a North Carolina insurance agent staring down criminal tax charges in North Carolina federal court said the government can't prevent them from relying on advice-of-counsel defenses at their upcoming trial, arguing they've handed over all the information prosecutors need to prepare.
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March 15, 2024
Camden Diocese Gets OK For Ch. 11 Plan On 4th Attempt
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Camden has won approval from a New Jersey bankruptcy judge for its plan to settle sexual abuse claims for $87.5 million after three prior versions of the plan were rejected over insurance carrier objections.
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March 14, 2024
GM, LexisNexis Sued For Sharing Driving Data With Insurers
A Florida driver claims his insurance rate doubled because General Motors and its OnStar unit collected driving data through his Cadillac without permission and shared the information with LexisNexis Risk Solutions, which created a vague driving behavior report that insurance companies use to determine coverage, according to a putative federal class action.
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March 14, 2024
Exxon Beats Insurers' Bid To Arbitrate Over MTBE Claims
A Texas appeals court sided with Exxon Mobil Corp. in the energy giant's attempt to forestall arbitration with an insurer over claims and lawsuits over exposure to methyl tertiary-butyl ether, ruling Wednesday that the trial court was right not to compel arbitration.
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March 14, 2024
Insurance Litigation Week In Review
A divided Colorado Supreme Court expanded application of the state's notice-prejudice rule, the Fourth Circuit tossed a COVID-19 coverage class action and the Eighth Circuit considered whether insurers' billing agreements with healthcare providers violated Minnesota's No-Fault Act. Here, Law360 takes a look at this week's top insurance news.
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March 14, 2024
Insurance Mogul Drops NC Counsel Before Retrial
Embattled insurance mogul Greg Lindberg has dropped Aaron Zachary Tobin of Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg PLLC from his legal team ahead of his retrial on a charge of trying to bribe North Carolina's insurance commissioner.
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March 14, 2024
PE-Backed Latin American Healthcare Firm Prices $420M IPO
Private equity-backed Latin American hospital operator Auna SA on Thursday set a price range on an estimated $420 million U.S. initial public offering, with plans to use the proceeds to repay debt and financing agreements.
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March 14, 2024
Longtime La. Insurance Commish Joins McGlinchey Stafford
McGlinchey Stafford PLLC has hired the former commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance, who also served in the state legislature, as a member in the firm's Baton Rouge and New Orleans offices, the firm announced Wednesday.
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March 14, 2024
An Insurance Attorney's Call To Military Service
Jeffrey Bristol of Parrish Law PA is a self-described "later-in-life lawyer" wearing many hats because he has dedicated more than a decade to serving in multiple branches of the U.S. armed forces.
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March 14, 2024
Feds Seek 20 Mos. For Aegerion Fraud 'Puppet Master'
A pharmaceutical sales representative who gloated about being a "puppet master" for false insurance claims for Aegerion's cholesterol drug should serve 20 months in prison, the U.S. government has told a Boston federal judge.
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March 13, 2024
Judge Says COVID Test Suit Depends On Conn. Justices
A Connecticut federal judge trimmed several claims from a $783,000 suit over a COVID-19 testing bill that a health plan administrator allegedly failed to pay, but declined to rule on certain state law issues until the state's highest court can shed light on the statutes in an upcoming ruling.
Expert Analysis
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Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target
Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
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Predictions For The 2023 Drug Pricing Landscape
2022 was the year of legislative action around drug pricing, while 2023 is likely to serve up precedential judicial action — including active legal challenges with respect to the government's programs covering outpatient prescription drugs, accumulators and third-party funders, says Margaux Hall at Ropes & Gray.
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NY Adult Survivors Act Look-Back: What Orgs Must Know
With the look-back window for New York's Adult Survivors Act now open, survivors of past sexual abuse have a new opportunity to file civil claims — so organizations that could face litigation should take specific steps to ensure best practices both before and after lawsuits arise, say Michael Appelbaum and Christina Holdsworth at Goldberg Segalla.
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Legal Standing For Nature: The Road Not Taken
Fifty years have passed since former U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas asked whether natural objects like trees and rivers should have standing — and while the high court has since narrowed access to the courtroom for potential environmental plaintiffs, Douglas' vision is worth revisiting, says Ninth Circuit Judge Margaret McKeown.
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4th Circ. Disability Ruling Shows ERISA Procedure Flaw
The Fourth Circuit's recent decision in Tekmen v. Reliance Standard that summary judgment was inapt highlights how summary judgment has been misused in Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation — and may help restore civil procedure norms in such lawsuits, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Medical Malpractice Settlements Shouldn't Require NDAs
Hospitals and insurance companies can go to great lengths to avoid accountability — as depicted in the recent Netflix film "The Good Nurse" — and nondisclosure agreements used to settle medical malpractice cases out of court leave patients without crucial information when seeking treatment, says Andrew Barovick at Sandra Radna.
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Benefits Ruling Shows Need For Revised ERISA Procedure
The Ninth Circuit's recent ruling in Collier v. Lincoln Life Assurance demonstrates that not only are there no uniform court procedures for Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are not always followed, demanding a reappraisal of ERISA civil procedure, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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Privacy Ruling Highlights Risks Of Third-Party Web Tracking
The Ninth Circuit’s recent ruling in Javier v. Assurance — that third-party session replay software usage without user consent may violate a California privacy law — highlights why companies should remain proactive and review all technologies that collect information from their websites, say attorneys at K&L Gates.
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Why Warranty Providers May Explore CCPA Exemption
In order to prepare for the coming wave of state consumer privacy laws across the country, organizations in the extended warranty industry should assess their exposure to the California Consumer Privacy Act and the applicability of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s exemption, say attorneys at Locke Lord.
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ERISA Ruling Reinforces Claimant Right To Know Denial Basis
A Louisiana federal court’s recent ruling in Rushing v. Sun Life Assurance, finding that an insurer could not remand a case to raise a new basis for a benefit denial, reinforces claimants' rights and illustrates how limited court review in Employee Retirement Income Security Act litigation can prevent insurers from raising new rationales for denial post-filing, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.
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What To Expect From The Post-Midterms Lame-Duck Session
Depending on the results of the midterm elections, the upcoming lame-duck session may be the last chance for Congress to enact meaningful legislation for the next several years, so organizations must push through legislative priorities now, lest they are forced to restart their efforts in a much different environment next year, says James Brandell at Dykema.
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Why Courts Are Rejecting Agencies' Merger Challenges
Recent losses for the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission show how difficult it is for the agencies to challenge transactions based on certain theories — and that merging parties can close difficult transactions if they are willing to fight regulators in court, say attorneys at McDermott.
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2nd Circ. Securities Ruling May Encourage Fraud
The Second Circuit's recent decision in Menora v. Frutarom, intended to clarify when defrauded purchasers have standing under securities laws, is inconsistent with well-settled law and creates wide-reaching uncertainty that will likely incentivize fraud, say attorneys at Labaton Sucharow.