Standard & Poor's Corp. raised its outlook on share prices in the property/casualty insurance industry to positive from neutral, saying recent catastrophes will help insurers increase their prices. “We believe the record level of worldwide catastrophe losses experienced year to date, including an estimated $3 billion from tornadoes in Joplin, Mo., will lead to a firming of rates for many lines of coverage,” Catherine Seifert, insurance analyst at S&P Equity Research Services, said in a statement.

Washington state legislators approved a workers compensation reform bill that its backers say will save the state's disability system $1.1 billion over the next four years. H.B. 2123 passed the Washington state House on a 69-26 vote and the Senate on a 35-12 vote last week, wrapping a three-week effort to revamp the state's system. Gov. Christine Gregoire is expected to sign the bill into law.

The New York state Senate unanimously confirmed Benjamin M. Lawsky as superintendent of the state's new banking and insurance regulator. Mr. Lawsky will head the Department of Financial Services, which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo recently created by merging the New York State Banking Department and the New York State Department of Insurance.

A section of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that makes it easier for coal miners to tap benefits for black lung disease has survived an employer's constitutional challenge. In a decision last week, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the miner's widow can press her argument that she is entitled to survivor benefits. While the nation's health care reform law mandates a host of changes, a lesser-known section of the law established a presumption that a mine worker with 15 years of service who contracted a lung disease contracted it on the job. PPACA made the presumption retroactive to claims filed after Jan. 1, 2005.

White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. said it will set up a syndicate at Lloyd's of London. White Mountains said Sirius International Insurance Corp. has received approval in principle from Lloyd's Franchise Board to set up syndicate 1945. Sirius is a unit of reinsurer White Mountains Re Ltd. The syndicate will underwrite insurance and reinsurance in the accident and health and contingency lines, which will be transferred from Sirius' London branch office.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it has paid out nearly half of a $5 billion fund created by the health care reform law that partially reimburses employers and other organizations that have early retiree health care plans. As of May 3, just more than $2.4 billion had been paid out, up from $1.8 billion as of March 17, according to CMS.

The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be more active than average, according to catastrophe mapper and predictor Tropical Storm Risk. It said Atlantic basin and U.S. landfall hurricane activity this year likely will be 25% above the long-term norm.

California led the nation in cargo thefts last year, with 247 of 747 U.S. thefts that were estimated at $171 million, according to a report released last week by the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

Ryan Specialty Group L.L.C. has launched LifeScienceRisk, a managing general underwriter that specializes in insurance for generic pharmaceuticals, medical devices and nutritional supplements. The MGU is writing the coverage on behalf of Catlin Specialty Insurance Co., a unit of Catlin Group Ltd., and is available on a nonadmitted basis in all states except Delaware and Rhode Island.

Most energy insurance buyers will see favorable conditions for the rest of this year despite the recent string of natural catastrophes that has affected other lines of coverage, a Marsh Inc. report says. Underwriters are raising rates in some segments of the energy market and are becoming more disciplined on pricing, according to Marsh's latest “Energy Market Monitor.”