As part of its effort, DWC published a study on Feb. 2 measuring the impact of recent reforms on the workers' compensation insurance marketplace in California. The report - mandated by SB 899 - concludes, "The cost savings from the reforms are still very difficult to quantify with a high degree of confidence. The reforms are still relatively new and it will be many years before their financial effects are fully known. This is due to legislative, regulatory, legal and actuarial uncertainty."

Washington, D.C. -- In a narrow vote earlier this week, the Senate upheld a budget objection that is expected to prevent Congress from enacting legislation that would set up a $140 billion fund to compensate asbestos victims.

NEW YORK—The global property/casualty industry may have boosted underwriting results in recent years, but adequate reserving remains a problem for the sector, one rating agency says.

In a report released Friday, Standard & Poor’s Corp. noted that during the first three quarters of 2005, insurers made reserve additions for accident years 2001 and earlier totaling $16.5 billion. That figure includes an announcement of $1.69 billion in adverse reserve development by American International Group Inc. earlier this month.

NEW YORK (Reuters)—A female golf professional who worked at American International Group Inc.'s country club sued the insurance company on Monday for sexual discrimination.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan by Joan McDonald, seeks an unspecified amount of damages for discrimination after the golf pro became pregnant and was fired.

SACRAMENTO - Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi announced new workers' compensation regulations this week that will require all insurers to submit certification forms that verify that claims adjusters and medical bill reviewers meet the new minimum standards of training and/or experience.

According to the department's press statement, the new regulations effective this week are designed to help speed appropriate care to injured workers and eliminate dysfunction that adds cost to the system. The new regulations complement the workers' compensation reforms of 2004 and are a result of AB 1262 (Matthews).