Insurance & Financial Services

On Tuesday, December 12, 2017, the Massachusetts Appeals Court, applying New Hampshire law, held that a professional liability insurer did not breach the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing by settling a New Hampshire medical malpractice suit over its insured’s objection. 

After being in the insurance industry for several decades in a variety of roles, I frequently get asked which insurtechs I think are going to be successful.

The potential to disrupt the historic insurance industry model has made insurtech one of the hottest new areas of innovation and investment, with entrepreneurs developing technologies at a breakneck pace and venture capital firms seeking to put investment dollars behind an exciting range of new products and services aimed at efficiencies and cost savings.

From May 22-26 Mintz Levin participated in the annual NAIC Insurance Summit in Kansas City. A main theme of this year’s Summit was technology and innovation. The Summit was remarkable in that it served as a meeting grounds for key market players: technology incumbents, such as insurers, insurtech start-ups, venture capital firms, accelerators, producers and regulators.

Decisions you make when founding and/or investing in an insurtech venture can dictate your regulatory obligations, tax liability, operational structure and, ultimately, profitability. Here are five seemingly simple questions to ask when launching an insurtech venture:

The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission conducted its fourth annual Cost Trends Hearing on October 17 and 18, 2016, under the requirements of Massachusetts’s 2012 health care reform legislation (“Chapter 224”).

Policyholders often seek to challenge an insurer’s denial of coverage on the grounds that the insurer waived a defense relied upon to deny coverage.

The Massachusetts Division of Insurance (DOI) recently held a two-day hearing on rate changes proposed by Massachusetts health insurance plans to be effective for the second quarter of 2016 (Q2).

Created by the Immigration Act of 1990, the Immigrant Investor Program, more commonly referred to as the EB-5 program, offers foreign investors an opportunity to secure permanent residency in the United States by making a minimum capital investment of $1 million per investor into a New Commercial Enterprise (NCE) that will create at least 10 jobs for US workers.

The heady days of 2012 saw “Gangnam Style” dominate the U.S. music charts, Patricia Krentcil rocket to fame as the “New Jersey Tanning Mom,” and the New York Giants win the Super Bowl.

On February 5, 2015, Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA) introduced H.R. 9, entitled the “Innovation Act.”

On February 8, 2015, the Board of Governors of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (“IEEE”) approved changes to the IEEE Patent Policy that provide additional specificity as to the nature of the obligation attaching to member-owned patents that are essential to an IEEE standard.

Currently on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Carnegie Mellon University’s (“CMU”) $1.535 billion judgment for patent infringement against Marvell Technology Group Ltd. and Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (collectively “Marvell”), which is one of the largest damages awards for patent infringement in history.

Since the Supreme Court’s decision in Alice Corp. v. CLS Bank Int’l on patentable subject matter, courts have tried to follow the prescribed framework.

In Univ. of Utah Res. Foundation et al. v. Ambry Genetics Corp., No. 2014-1361 (Fed. Cir. Dec. 17, 2014), the Federal Circuit once again has weighed in on the patent eligibility of Myriad Genetics, Inc.’s patents related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes.

Arriving for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on November 10, President Obama announced the conclusion of a reciprocal deal with China that will see both countries extend the length of the multiple-entry visitor visas available to citizens visiting the other country.

On October 24, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2014-67 (the “Notice”), which provides important guidance and increased flexibility for issuers and conduit borrowers of tax-exempt bonds regarding contracting with private parties in a manner that avoids “private use” by such parties of bond-financed facilities.

The Department of State (DOS) has revised certain nonimmigrant and immigrant visa fees. DOS has adjusted the visa fees in the following categories:

As we reported on Monday, due to a massive software failure of the Department of State’s Consular Consolidated Database (CCD), there continue to be delays in the issuance of visas at consular posts around the globe.

Multiple reports have confirmed that the U.S. Department of State’s global database for issuing travel documents recently crashed. While the system has been restored, it is operating at reduced capacity and significant backlogs have developed.