Industry Updates

As cyber threats continue to evolve and increase, insurers are responding by imposing stricter requirements on policyholders to obtain and maintain coverage. This shifts how businesses should implement, manage, and oversee IT departments and cybersecurity programs in preparation for cyber risks....By: Gray Reed

It’s that time of year when employers are finalizing their open enrollment materials. Along with benefit changes and annual disclosures, employers should also review their Summary of Benefits and Coverage (“SBC”) and understand when it needs to be distributed. The instructions for completing SBCs are specific, e.g., language must be used verbatim in the “Why This Matters” column....By: Haynes Boone

Minnesota’s Paid Leave program is set to take effect on January 1, 2026. The law will provide job protections and partial wage replacement for up to 12 weeks of leave due to serious illness and up to 12 weeks of leave for family care, child bonding, personal safety issues, and military active duty, for a maximum of 20 weeks of leave in a single benefit year....By: Stinson LLP

The United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, applying California law, has held that a misappropriation of funds exclusion barred coverage under an E&O policy for a claim against a company that provided an allegedly negligent pre-employment background check, resulting in the hiring of an employee with a criminal background who subsequently embezzled funds from his employer....By: Wiley Rein LLP

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced on August 21 that Niranjan Mittal, a Brooklyn-based cardiologist, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. Mittal pleaded guilty to violating the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) in connection with a fraudulent scheme that lasted roughly seven years and resulted in over $40 million of payments from insurers to Mittal’s practice....By: Rivkin Radler LLP

This month, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report alleging that 17 of 25 hospitals selected for an audit did not comply, or may not have complied, with the so-called “balance billing requirement” of the Provider Relief Fund (PRF) implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. The balance billing requirement was a stipulated condition for receiving PRF funding and prohibited charging out-of-network patients more for actual or presumptive COVID-19 diagnosis treatment than if the...By: King & Spalding

Join us for an in-depth webinar exploring the evolving landscape of data centers—from traditional setups to AI-driven infrastructure. Discover how the risks associated with lithium batteries, environmental hazards, and complex recovery challenges are influencing insurance claims and valuation strategies. Real-world case studies and scientific analysis will equip attendees with actionable insights to navigate claims involving fire, water, contamination, and overheating....By: J.S. Held

On October 1, 2025, the U.S. federal government entered a partial shutdown after Congress failed to pass either a full-year appropriations package or a continuing resolution. Among the many ripples from this lapse in funding is a sudden rollback of the expanded telehealth flexibilities under Medicare that providers and beneficiaries have now utilized for many years....By: Greenbaum, Rowe, Smith & Davis LLP

The Arbitration Act 2025 (the Act) came into force on 1 August 2025 and will apply to arbitration proceedings commenced on or after that date. The aim of the new Act is to supplement the existing framework, enshrined in the Arbitration Act 1996, by making various changes intended to ensure that the United Kingdom continues to be a leading destination for domestic and international commercial arbitrations. In the insurance context, there are important changes  likely to impact policyholders...By: K&L Gates LLP

Welcome to your weekly update from the A&O Shearman Pensions team, covering all the latest legal and regulatory developments in the world of workplace pensions....By: A&O Shearman

On September 26, 2025, the New York State Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) issued Policy Statement: Notice of Satisfaction of Agreements (the “Policy Statement”), which allows companies that have been subject to an enforcement action or consent order to obtain an official notice that they have fully discharged all the obligations imposed by DFS....By: Mayer Brown

If you get injured in a California accident, one early question that will come to mind is how much your case might be worth. Every claim is unique, but lawyers follow a structured approach when determining the possible case value in front of you....By: Maison Law

On September 26, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York signed into law AB 5600 (the Bill), which amends N.Y. Ins. Law §7425 to address the treatment of voidable transfers involving Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs), as well as the conduct of parties to delinquency proceedings against New York domiciled insurer-members of an FHLB....By: Troutman Pepper Locke

On September 30, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued final guidance (Final Guidance) for initial price applicability year (IPAY) 2028 of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Drug Price Negotiation Program (DPNP). The Final Guidance also implements polices for effectuation of the Maximum Fair Price (MFP) for IPAYs 2026 through 2028....By: Hogan Lovells

The United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, applying New Jersey law, has held that a prior knowledge exclusion barred coverage for a legal malpractice claim arising from a probate dispute because a reasonable attorney would have believed that the lawyer breached a professional duty or otherwise foreseen the potential for liability....By: Wiley Rein LLP

On 4 September 2025, the Government of Bermuda launched a public consultation on draft legislation proposing the introduction of three new tax credits under the Corporate Income Tax regime. These credits are intended to encourage investment in Bermuda, promote community contributions and support infrastructure development....By: Conyers

In Sparta Insurance Company v. Pennsylvania General Insurance Company, Civ. No. 21-11205-FDS (D. Mass. Sept. 30, 2025), the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts held that the obligations of Pennsylvania General Insurance Company (PGIC) were not extinguished by implied novation, finding that the silence or inaction of the party to whom the obligation was owed (Sparta Insurance Company) was insufficient to establish the required consent for novation....By: Husch Blackwell LLP

Below are the more notable pending New Jersey workers’ compensation bills in the 2024-25 session, with 2025 updates in bold. A1719 / S1883 Excludes Certain Illegal Aliens - This excludes certain illegal aliens from workers’ compensation and temporary disability benefits. It was introduced on January 9, 2024, and referred to the Assembly Labor Committee....By: Marshall Dennehey

On 15 July 2025, the Court of Appeal gave judgment1 in a case concerning whether third party claimants could have an entitlement to the proceeds of an insurance claim in circumstances where those proceeds were paid to the insured, a company in liquidation, prior to its entering into liquidation....By: Mayer Brown

A recent Ninth Circuit decision reconciled other decisions within that circuit involving auto insurance total losses, concluding that individual questions predominated and therefore affirming the district court’s denial of class certification. The dissent, however, called for en banc review, suggesting that an intra-circuit split exists....By: Robinson+Cole Class Actions Insider

When it comes to insurance claim practices handled in bad faith, the Golden State is an unfortunate leader. In August 2025, the Sixth Appellate District Court of California published a decision in an insurance dispute that reaffirmed one of many bad faith strategies commonly applied by insurers. Bad faith happens when insurance companies unreasonably fail to uphold basic duties owed to their policyholders, thus breaching the good faith and fair dealing provisions of insurance contracts....By: Maison Law

This month’s Friday Five explores decisions from around the country discussing differences between the scope of discovery and ability to add documents to the record on a claim for review challenging the denial of LTD benefits, LTD and LWOP policies, the breadth of discretion available to claims administrators and the always important topic of timely action by insurers in issuing claims decisions....By: Saul Ewing LLP

On October 1, the federal prudential regulators and the Farm Credit Administration issued a joint reminder of a 2022 guidance (Interagency Questions and Answers Regarding Flood Insurance) that lenders may continue to make loans subject to federal flood insurance statutes even if the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is unavailable. The agencies clarified that, during an NFIP lapse, lenders are not required to obtain federal flood insurance coverage for affected loans....By: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Across Ontario and beyond, more people are facing disability claim denials from their insurance providers. For individuals already coping with serious health challenges, these refusals add another layer of stress....By: Auger Hollingsworth

Skadden was pleased to return as a sponsor of ReDirect 2025, a conference focused on the UK and European life and annuity reinsurance sector. We joined a great lineup of fellow sponsors: Athene, Aviva, BMO, Brookfield, Canada Life, Hannover Re, Hymans Robertson, InEvo Re, Just Group, Legal & General, MBeckers, Milliman, Morgan Stanley, Oliver Wyman, Pacific Life Re, Prudential, RGA, Resolution Life, Sixth Street, Standard Life, Swiss Re, SCOR and Warwick....By: Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

This issue of McDermott Will & Schulte’s Healthcare Regulatory Check-Up highlights regulatory activity for August 2025, including the formation of a joint Healthcare Advisory Committee between the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the launch of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) PreCheck program to boost domestic pharmaceutical manufacturing, and the latest legal challenges to executive orders targeting...By: McDermott Will & Schulte

The Supreme Court of Delaware, applying Delaware law, has held that certain allegations in an underlying complaint did not constitute a separate “Claim” against an insured under the D&O policies at issue. Origis USA LLC v. Great Am. Ins. Co., 2025 WL 2055767 (Del. July 23, 2025). The court also concluded that even if they did, the policies’ “Prior Acts” exclusion precluded coverage in its entirety....By: Wiley Rein LLP

Increasingly, many companies are finding themselves entangled in human trafficking claims under federal and state laws. The federal Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act (TVPRA) and similar state laws cast a wide net that is intended to snare those involved in or those that "knowingly benefit" from trafficking. Industries such as agriculture, construction, transportation, technology, banking, hospitality, and others are vulnerable to trafficking claims....By: Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP

In bad faith litigation, much in a claim file may be subject to disclosure. While not as frequently contested, a Florida court recently reinforced the same holds true for a policyholder’s documents....By: Butler Weihmuller Katz Craig LLP

On September 23, 2025, the California Privacy Protection Agency (CPPA) announced that the California Office of Administrative Law approved final regulations under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The regulations (previously discussed here) cover cybersecurity audits, risk assessments, automated decision making technology (ADMT), insurance companies, and updates to existing CCPA obligations....By: Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP