The Texas Department of Insurance Division of Workers’ Compensation reported that the workers’ compensation interest/discount rate for Jan. 1, 2009, through March 31, 2009, will be 3.95 percent.
The interest/discount rate for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2008, is 5.22 percent
More than two years after Massachusetts passed groundbreaking legislation to move the state closer to universal health insurance coverage, the Bay State has achieved that milestone, according to a survey released last week. Some 97.4% of Massachusetts residents now have health insurance coverage.
Several provisions in the Massachusett’s 2006 reform law have been key in increasing coverage, expets say, including state premium subsidies for the low-income uninsured, imposing financial penalties of more than $900 a year on those who are not covered under a health plan and a $295 per employee assessment on employers who do not offer coverage. 
Effective July 1, 2009, a new Medicare mandate will require employers to file claim data to CMS in an attempt to ensure that the government saves money in cases where Medicare is supposed to be a secondary payer for its beneficiaries. Self insured employers should assure that their third party administrator is positioned to provide Medicare with the required information. Employers should be concerned because the penality for failure to report is $1,000 per day per claim. This new reporting mandate is contained in the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 that President Bush signed a year ago.
AUSTIN, TX – The Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers’ Compensation (TDI-DWC) approved 13 companies to self-insure for workers’ compensation claims for a one-year period under the TDI-DWC Self-Insurance Regulation program. These 13 companies collectively employ approximately 26,500 employees in Texas.
Under Texas law, certain large, private companies can self-insure for workers’ compensation claims, while retaining the protection of the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act for the company and for its employees. To qualify, a company must have a minimum workers’ compensation insurance unmodified manual premium of $500,000 and meet other requirements subject to annual review.
The following thirteen companies received renewals of existing self-insurance certificates:
The Texas Department of Insurance cautions consumers that the public is being offered investments in life settlements bonded wholly or in part by Provident Capital Indemnity, Ltd. of Costa Rica ( http://www.providentinsurances.com/). The bonds are included with the investor agreement to purportedly provide a guarantee to the investor in the event the insured lives longer than the projected life expectancy.
Provident Capital Indemnity has never held a certificate of authority to act as an insurer or surety in Texas nor has Provident Capital Indemnity ever been qualified as an eligible surplus lines insurer in Texas.
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/news/2008/news2008188.html tdi-bulliten-provident-capital-indemnity
At the request of the Texas Commissioner of Insurance, a petition was filed on December 3, 2008, to liquidate Indemnity Lloyds Insurance Company (“Austin Indemnity”). On December 29, 2008, a Liquidation Order will be submitted to the Travis County District Court. As a consequence of the entry of the Liquidation Order on December 29, 2008, all policies issued by Austin Indemnity that are still in effect on January 28, 2009 will terminate effective January 28, 2009.
