Insurance

President Obama signed HR 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which includes a law that lengthens the duration of the COBRA subsidy from nine months to 15 months for eligible employees and their dependents. It also extends the subsidy to those Americans who lose their jobs on or before Feb. 28, 2010.

Bank of America Corp.'s lawsuit against MGIC Investment Corp. reflects escalating tensions in the industry over mortgage insurers' denials of claims that lenders submit for defaulted home loans.

Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America Corp., will have to reimburse as many as 17 million victims of the breach free and offer credit monitoring as a result of a settlement that was approved by a U.S. District Court Judge Thomas B. Russell in Kentucky. The Associated Press reports that the settlement calls for Countrywide give the victims, including anyone who obtained a mortgage and anyone who used Countrywide to service a mortgage before July 1, 2008, free credit monitoring and up to $50,000 in reimbursements per instance of identity theft, provided they actually lost something of value, were not reimbursed and can prove the loss more likely than not stemmed from the Countrywide breach.

Boston-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is closing its recently formed MassMutual Retirement Income (MMRI) unit, according to a report in Investment News. The unit was formed in April 2007 to deliver “advisor-focused solutions for customers’ accumulation and guaranteed lifetime income needs.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking information as it launches an initiative to analyze health information technology standards to better focus resources on those that facilitate health information exchange.

Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. announced the appointment of Todd Brooks to VP of eastern growth markets.

In the truest “gift that keeps on giving” sense of the phrase, health insurers are taking advantage of the gift-giving season to help members achieve healthy outcomes. Promoted as stocking stuffers at various drug stores, health insurance gift cards can be used to pay bills and insurance premiums or for specific services at eye doctors and dentist offices.

After days of procural votes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act finally passed in the Senate early Thursday morning by a margin of 60-39. The sweeping reform legislation now moves to a conference committee where Senate and House negotiators will forge a single bill that each chamber must once more vote on before sending it on to the President for final passage.

A.M. Best , Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Many times, insurers don’t look closely enough at all available data and information to see clearly, and lose out on opportunities as a result.

Search is now generating thousands of new policies for agents and carriers, making it an indispensable part of their marketing strategy.

Across categories, 66% of claimants who give their carriers high satisfaction scores will renew their policies, but only 49% who give carriers low satisfaction scores plan to renew.

A McKinsey & Co. study finds 55% of execs say current performance in providing basic IT services is very or extremely effective, but only 21% are happy with IT's ability to add value to the business.

Michael Mitrovic will be responsible for overseeing a fully integrated claims management infrastructure to effectively serve clients throughout Ironshore’s multi-specialty, global platform.

OK, so some prominent global warming acolytes have been rigging the numbers; let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.

Chubb will work with the collaboration and innovation management tool company for two more years.

While regulators may have agreed to delay plans to treat equity-indexed annuities like securities, many bank-affiliated brokerages already have beaten them to the punch.

AIA foresees crucial 2010 for the insurance industry on Capitol Hill.

Democrats fend off filibuster attempt to move bill to floor.

Agency says detection and warning capabilities have grown since 2004.