Newsletter RSS

Mealey's Insurance Insolvency

  • October 14, 2021

    Objecting Class Members Appeal Attorney Fees Awards In ACA Risk-Corridor Dispute

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Objecting class members on Oct. 1 appealed the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ judgments granting attorney fee awards for class counsel of insurers in a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the U.S. government owes the insurers millions of dollars under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-corridor program.

  • October 06, 2021

    8th Circuit Issues Formal Mandate Affirming $100M-Plus Award To Receiver, Guarantees

    ST. LOUIS —The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Sept. 20 issued a formal mandate after finding no error in a trial court’s substantial damages and attorney fees awards to a special deputy receiver (SDR) and state guaranty associations (SGAs) in a lawsuit over massive fraud surrounding preneed funeral contracts.

  • September 28, 2021

    9th Circuit Sets Oral Argument For Row Over Regulators’ Conservatorship Of Insurer

    SAN FRANCISCO — In a Sept. 26 docket entry, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals filed notice of oral argument scheduled for Dec. 7 in a suit alleging that California state regulators abused their authority in obtaining a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurance carrier; the appeal followed a federal judge in California’s dismissal of the suit upon determining that the prior exclusive jurisdiction rule and abstention under Younger v. Harris apply.

  • September 23, 2021

    Insolvent Medical Malpractice Insurer’s Liquidation Remains Ongoing, Parties Report

    TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Insurance commissioner, as liquidator of an insolvent medical malpractice insurer, the insolvent insurer’s parent company and others on Sept. 17 filed a joint status report in the commissioner’s federal lawsuit alleging fraudulent transfer, breach of fiduciary duty, preferential transfer of property, professional negligence/malpractice, civil conspiracy and aiding and abetting, indicating that the liquidation of the insolvent insurer “remains ongoing.”

  • September 23, 2021

    Federal Judge Grants Attorney Fee Awards To Class Counsel In ACA Risk-Corridor Suit

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on Sept. 17 entered three separate judgments granting attorney fee awards for class counsel of insurers in a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that the U.S. government owes the insurers millions of dollars under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk-corridor program but denying class counsels’ request for a $100,000 incentive award to class representatives.

  • September 23, 2021

    Judge Dismisses Insurance Guaranty Agency’s Medicare Suit For Lack Of Jurisdiction

    RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in North Carolina on Sept. 21 granted the acting secretary of Health and Human Services and federal agencies’ motion to dismiss North Carolina Insurance Guaranty Association (NCIGA)’s lawsuit challenging the reporting requirements under the federal Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) statute, dismissing the complaint without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction.

  • September 23, 2021

    Magistrate Denies Motion To Bifurcate Discovery In Suit Over Insolvent Health Plan

    CHICAGO — A federal magistrate judge in Illinois on Sept. 13 denied insurance brokers’ joint motion to bifurcate discovery in a lawsuit alleging that they breached their duty of care because they knew or should have known that a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) was not in compliance with its structural requirements and was not financially sound, finding that bifurcating discovery “would engender delay and inefficiency, and that the attendant costs would prejudice the parties and non-party witnesses alike."

  • September 21, 2021

    8th Circuit Affirms Over $100 Million In Fees, Damages To Receiver, Guarantees

    ST. LOUIS — An Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on Aug. 30 found no error in a trial court’s substantial damages and attorney fees awards to a special deputy receiver (SDR) and state guaranty associations (SGAs) in a lawsuit over massive fraud surrounding preneed funeral contracts, finding ample evidence of intentional misconduct.

  • September 20, 2021

    Federal Judge Grants Insolvent Insurer’s Motion To Stay Asbestos Liability Lawsuit

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on July 19 granted an insolvent insurer’s unopposed motion to stay an asbestos liability lawsuit alleging claims under the Louisiana Direct Action Statute and exercise its inherent authority to stay the lawsuit as to all other defendants.

  • September 20, 2021

    Federal Judge Dismisses All But Insured In Dispute Over Slip And Fall Injury

    SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Almost two months after a federal judge in Puerto Rico granted Puerto Rico Miscellaneous Insurance Guaranty Association’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit seeking liability for damages arising from a slip-and-fall injury that allegedly occurred at the insured’s premises, the judge granted the plaintiff’s motion to voluntarily dismiss all defendants except the insured.

  • September 20, 2021

    Magistrate Continues Stay Of Coverage Suit, Says Insurer’s Liquidation Still In Flux

    KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Again noting that a Pennsylvania insurance commissioner’s liquidation order against an excess insurer “is still in flux,” a federal magistrate judge in Kansas on Sept. 7 continued to stay a consolidated lawsuit brought by primary and excess managed care organization errors and omissions insurers disputing coverage for underlying antitrust class actions.

  • September 20, 2021

    Judge Lifts Stay In Asbestos Liability Suit Except For Insolvent Insurer, Insureds

    NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in Louisiana on Sept. 17 lifted a six-month administrative stay of an asbestos liability coverage dispute that was in effect from the date of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court’s liquidation order, reopening the lawsuit against all parties except an insolvent insurer and two of its insureds.

  • September 20, 2021

    Judge Tosses Suit Alleging Rehabilitation Plan Alters Insureds’ Rates, Benefits

    BATON ROUGE, La. — A federal judge in Louisiana on Sept. 15 dismissed without prejudice the Louisiana's insurance commissioner’s complaint court seeking a declaratory judgment that the rehabilitator for Senior Health Insurance Company of Pennsylvania (SHIP) cannot alter, without his approval, the rates and benefits for SHIP's Louisiana policyholders, finding that the commissioner failed to establish that his claims are justiciable.

  • September 20, 2021

    Insurance Regulators To 9th Circuit:  Suit Testing Conservatorship Rightly Tossed

    SAN FRANCISCO — A suit alleging that California state regulators abused their authority in obtaining a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurance carrier was correctly dismissed because the prior exclusive jurisdiction rule and abstention under Younger v. Harris apply, the regulators argue in their Sept. 15 appellees’ brief before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • September 15, 2021

    Bank To 4th Circuit: ‘Directed Trustee’ Ruling On Reinsurance Dispute Was Correct

    RICHMOND, Va. — A federal court in South Carolina correctly rejected an insurer’s claims against a bank in a dispute over a reinsurance trust for an insolvent insurer, the bank argues in its Aug. 31 appellee brief before the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

  • September 13, 2021

    Fiduciary Opposes Bifurcation Of Discovery In Suit Over Insolvent Health Plan

    CHICAGO — An independent fiduciary on Aug. 10 filed an opposition to insurance brokers’ motion for a federal court in Illinois to bifurcate discovery in a lawsuit alleging that they breached their duty of care because they knew or should have known that a multiple employer welfare arrangement (MEWA) was not in compliance with its structural requirements and was not financially sound.

  • September 10, 2021

    Parties Argue Abstention In Asbestos, Reinsurance Appeal Before 6th Circuit

    CINCINNATI — In recent supplemental briefs filed at the request of a Sixth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel following oral arguments, parties in an asbestos coverage dispute argue whether the court should abstain from deciding the case during the pendency of the liquidation proceedings against the appellant, OneBeacon Insurance Co.

  • August 30, 2021

    Reverse Judgment On Exhaustion Requirement, Reinsurer Urges 2nd Circuit

    NEW YORK — Seeking reversal of an asbestos billing judgment in an excess insurer’s favor that was based on a ruling that an exhaustion requirement was ambiguous, a reinsurer says in its Aug. 19 appellant brief before the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals that the insurer has successfully argued in separate proceedings that the same language is unambiguous; the reinsurer also says the insurer should be judicially estopped from arguing that the language is ambiguous.

  • August 26, 2021

    Insurance Regulators: Conservatorship Test Rightly Tossed Under Doctrine

    PASADENA, Calif. — Allegations that they violated constitutional rights and acted in bad faith by filing a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurer were properly dismissed under the prior exclusive jurisdiction doctrine, the California insurance commissioner and his deputies tell the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in their Aug. 25 appellees’ brief, arguing that a federal judge in California correctly considered the gravamen of the action; they also urge affirmation of the judge’s alternative finding that abstention under Younger v. Harris applies.

  • August 26, 2021

    Insurer’s Successor Asks 9th Circuit To Reverse Dismissal Of Conservatorship Case

    SAN FRANCISCO — Neither the prior exclusive jurisdiction rule nor abstention under Younger v. Harris applies to allegations that state regulators abused their authority in obtaining a conservatorship against a workers’ compensation insurance carrier, the insurer’s successor in interest argues in an Aug. 16 appellant brief before the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, seeking reversal and remand following a trial court’s dismissal of the case.