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U.S. Senate lawmakers are expected to vote on legislation to overhaul the National Flood Insurance Program and maintain it for another five years, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said on May 23. While lawmakers work on the five-year extension measure, Reid said they would proceed with a 60-day extension, as the program is set to expire in the coming week. The U.S. House already has passed a long-term reform package and an extension through June 30. Reid says, "[It is] critical that we do something on flood insurance. We need to get something done on a more permanent basis." Related Story: The Press of Atlantic City

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Starting this year, people in West Virginia who fill out a renewal form for a driver's license will need to fill in a five-digit National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) number. The state's Division of Motor Vehicles will use the number to enable police to confirm a driver's insurance coverage. If a driver is pulled over, a police officer would be able to input the NAIC number to see if the policy is up to date. Officials say the new Electronic Verification Program will become mandatory by 2014.

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The Texas Department of Insurance now has three metropolitan areas in which a department-assigned prosecutor is devoted exclusively to "rooting out and convicting individuals committing insurance fraud." State Insurance Commissioner Eleanor Kitzman said the overall goal is to eventually save taxpayers money on their own insurance premiums by putting a significant dent in such crimes. "This is a pervasive crime," said Kitzman, who added that perpetrators "need to be rooted out." In 2011, Texas received more than 11,000 insurance fraud reports and insurance companies lost more than $23.8 million to schemers, according to the Texas Department of Insurance.

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A study by the California Workers' Compensation Institute indicates that drug testing is a major cost driver in the state's workers' comp system, with the number of tests performed to make sure injured workers are taking their prescribed drugs surging 4,537 percent from 2004 to 2011 and costing almost $100 million last year alone. Observers believe some of these drugs, particularly opioids, should not be prescribed in the first place, and it is uncertain whether the increase in tests actually benefits injured workers and employers or is more about vendors boosting profits.

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In anticipation of the upcoming Memorial Day weekend, Washington State fire officials are warning consumers to be cautious when building campfires. Officials said there have been nearly 700 wildfires in the state over the past four years, resulting from campers leaving fire pits unattended or smoldering. To keep campfires from turning into wildfires, officials recommend that campers only build a campfire in approved fire pits and never leave the fire unattended until it is cool to the touch. Additionally, officials said campers should have a shovel and 5 gallons of water to extinguish the flames.

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Federal Insurance Office Director Michael McRaith recently outlined some of his organization's activity as it continues to work on a report on how to modernize and improve insurance regulations in the United States. McRaith's emphasized the global nature of the insurance industry, and stated that the FIO's "immediate predominant focus is on international issues, involving key bilateral relationships and critical international initiatives," including more work with the International Association of Insurance Supervisors to develop a common framework for the supervision of internationally active insurance groups. Regarding Solvency II, which is to be implemented in 2014, McRaith outlined the FIO's engagement with the European Union, European Insurance and Occupational Pension Authority and the Financial Services Authority of the United Kingdom as a "mutual assessment of the U.S. and EU insurance regulatory systems."

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The Financial Stability Oversight Council is now in position to designate certain nonbank firms, including insurers, as systemically important financial institutions. There is probably no aspect of Dodd-Frank that will have more damaging effects on competition in the U.S. financial system, writes Peter J. Wallison, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. "It's not difficult to imagine what would happen to competition in the U.S. after SIFIs are designated in nonbank financial industries. These industries would consolidate, with larger companies using their funding advantage to absorb the smaller."

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Health insurers and physicians say they want to slash the nation's $2.7 trillion health care bill by roughly half so that it corresponds more closely to overall inflation. To help rein in costs, some health insurers are partnering with hospitals and doctors through so-called accountable care organizations, which coordinate care for a group of people. For example, Blue Shield of California collaborated with the Dignity Health hospital system and Hill Physicians, a large medical group, in 2010 to provide coverage for 40,000 members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System in Sacramento. Related Story: Kaiser Health News

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A new study funded by the Commonwealth Fund shows that more than 50 percent of all medical insurance policies currently sold to individuals do not meet the standards of coverage set by the federal healthcare reform law. If the law is upheld by the Supreme Court, it would likely improve the quality of coverage for individuals in several ways, the study concluded. For instance, insurers would be required to limit how much consumers pay toward their own medical bills even if they have a chronic and costly condition. Related Stories: Bloomberg (video); The Washington Post (blog)

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Edward Grandi with the American Sleep Apnea Association says a diagnosis of sleep apnea can cause insurers to issue a "decline to cover." However, if a life insurance company does provide coverage, it will be at a much higher rate and with a limitation in the amount of coverage available, he says. But some insurance brokers say consumers can obtain adequate coverage based on their particular medical condition and how they treat it. The use of a continuous positive airway pressure mask and air pump, for instance, could prevent consumers from being assessed a surcharge if their health is otherwise good, suggests Ed Hinerman of the Hinerman Group.

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Hurricane Bud strengthened as it moved northwest in the Pacific, threatening the Mexican coast with high winds, surf, and heavy rain over the weekend. An advisory from the National Hurricane Center in Miami just before 8 a.m. EST said the storm's top winds reached 90 miles per hour up from 85 mph earlier today. Bud, now a Category 1 hurricane, is expected to strengthen further before weakening and heading back out to sea. "Swells generated from Bud will begin affecting portions of the southern and southwestern coasts of Mexico today... These swells are likely to cause life- threatening surf and rip current conditions," the advisory said.

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Although large wildfires are burning ahead of the usual Southwest fire season, the National Interagency Fire Center says the number of fires and acreage burned so far this year is below average. However, forecasts predict a warmer than average summer in the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest, which will exacerbate drought conditions and increase fire weather danger in the coming months. Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, California, Idaho, Nevada, southern Montana, the Utah mountains, and the Big Island of Hawaii all have above-normal risk for significant wildfires this summer.

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