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Local news accounts detail changes in the market. In Iowa, Wells Fargo employees are choosing between high deductible options, while in Minnesota one insurer is rolling out a new individual policy that may help buoy its position when the state health exchanges begin operation.

Des Moines Register: Reflecting Larger Shift, Wells Fargo Moves To High-Deductible Health Plans More than 8,000 Wells Fargo employees in Iowa must choose before the end of the year between two types of high-deductible health insurance plans.

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Generations ago, it was accepted that elderly parents would be cared for by their adult children, with women (aka “the homemakers”) handling most of the physical and emotional burden. This was also a time when siblings and members of the extended family lived in close proximity, ready to step in when needed.

But times have changed, and families are rarely in the same state, let alone the same ZIP code. And women, although still bearing most of the caregiving burden (66%, according to Caregiving in the U.S.), in many cases are also employed outside the home.

Add to that the rising cost of assistance provided by professionals (estimated at $43,000 to $70,000 annually for eight hours a day of home health care alone) and it’s no surprise that the cost of caregiving can keep both the cared-for and the care-provider awake at night.

According to an AARP study, about 42 million people in the U.S. have

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Many, if not all, policyholders’ advocates are aware of the recent legislative changes to Florida’s sinkhole statutes. One of our greatest concerns is the definitional change of the term “structural damage” and whether this change can be applied retroactively. Chip Merlin’s July 7, 2011, post highlighted a recent circuit court’s decision finding the new law’s definition of “structural damage” inapplicable to previous policies of insurance. On the very next day, July 8, 2011, the Florida Supreme Court addressed a similar retroactivity issue in .

In Spiewak, the plaintiffs (“appellees”) sued the defendant (“appellant”) for injuries resulting from exposure to asbestos. After the exposure, but p

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An organization that educates legislators on insurance issues is working with insurance associations to create a model legislation for states concerning misuse of certificates of insurance.

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) said that while many states have laws against the misuse of certificates of insurance, there is a lack of uniformity. A model law endorsed by the nations insurance legislators would be “helpful,” according to the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA), which is working with NCOIL on the new model.

In recent years, insurance producers have reported that many organizations are increasingly demanding that producers make statements on certificates that expand coverage beyond what the policies provide. The

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