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Issue October 12, 2009 |
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Bolstered by a favorable report from congressional budget analysts, health care reform legislation drafted by members of a Senate committee is scheduled for a key vote Tuesday. If the Finance Committee approves the measure, as is expected, the measure will be melded with a somewhat different bill cleared earlier by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. The compromise bill then will be considered by the full Senate. The Finance Committee action comes in the wake of a report by the Congressional Budget Office that found that the panel's bill, if passed, would cost $829 billion and reduce the federal budget deficit by about $81 billion over 10 years. The measure also would increase to 94%—from 83%—the percentage of eligible individuals with health insurance coverage. The legislation, among other things, would provide federal health insurance premium subsidies for the low-income uninsured, require individuals to enroll in a health insurance plan or pay penalties that eventually would reach $750 per adult, create state insurance exchanges, and assess financial penalties on employers with more than 50 employees that don't offer affordable coverage.
Verisk Analytics Inc., parent company of Insurance Services Office Inc., last week said it has raised about $1.9 billion in an initial public offering of Class A common stock. Jersey City, N.J.-based Verisk, which began trading its shares last week on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol VRSK, said it sold nearly 85.3 million shares at $22 per share. Verisk provides risk-assessment services in insurance and risk management, among other areas. Its businesses include Boston-based ISO subsidiary AIR Worldwide Corp., which provides catastrophe modeling. Verisk said it will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares in the offering. Proceeds will go to the selling stockholders. Shares closed Friday at $26.40.
U.S. pay “czar” Kenneth R. Feinberg has approved American International Group Inc. President and Chief Executive Officer Robert H. Benmosche's annual pay package of $10.5 million. Mr. Feinberg, who is special master for executive compensation under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said in an Oct. 2 letter that Mr. Benmosche's pay package is consistent with TARP and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008. Mr. Benmosche's pay package must receive approval because AIG is a recipient of TARP funds. An Aug. 16 “proposed letter agreement” sent to Mr. Benmosche by AIG said he will receive an initial annual cash salary of $3 million, $4 million in stock, and up to $3.5 million in stock as a long-term incentive award. He is not entitled to any severance pay.
The Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. called for mandatory risk committees for certain publicly traded companies. The call came in a letter sent by New York-based RIMS to members of the House Financial Services Committee. In the letter, RIMS President Joe Restoule urged committee members to “require all publicly traded companies of a certain size to establish separate board-level "risk committees' to evaluate the enterprise risk of a corporation. The composition of the committee should include at least one risk management expert,” wrote Mr. Restoule, also leader of risk management for NOVA Chemicals Corp. in Calgary, Canada.
Guy Carpenter & Co. L.L.C. has entered into an agreement to acquire London-based reinsurance broker Rattner Mackenzie Ltd. from parent HCC Insurance Holdings Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. RML operates as a Lloyd's of London broker specializing in specialty accident and health, aviation, trade credit, and property/casualty insurance and reinsurance.
Employers must comply with a new mental health care benefits parity law next year, but may have to do so initially without the aid of federal regulations. The Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008, which takes effect for most group plans on Jan. 1, 2010, requires employers to provide the same coverage for mental health and substance abuse disorders as they do for other medical conditions in their group health care plans. However, federal officials say regulations won't be ready until January at the earliest.
TigerRisk Partners L.L.C., the reinsurance brokerage that industry veterans Rod Fox and Jim Stanard launched last year, has received an undisclosed financial boost from private equity firm Aquiline Capital Partners L.L.C., which is headed by former Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey W. Greenberg....The U.S. Supreme Court has asked the Obama administration for its opinion on whether it should review a ruling upholding San Francisco's controversial health care spending law....San Francisco-based broker Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. said it has acquired the Western region direct practice of executive liability specialist Carpenter Moore Insurance Services from NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. Terms were not disclosed....The Labor Department has given Dow Corning Corp. tentative authorization to fund employee benefit risks through its Washington-based captive insurance company. Dow Corning, a joint venture of Dow Chemical Corp. and Corning Inc., wants to use its captive, Devonshire Underwriters Ltd., to fund life and long-term disability benefits....Commercial property/casualty insurance rates fell an average of 4% in September compared with September 2008, MarketScout reported.
For reprints of this story, please contact Lauren Melesio at 212-210-0707 or email lmelesio@crain.com
