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Seattle University Law Review

Articles 91 - 102 of 102

Full-Text Articles in Insurance Law

Policing Cost Containment: The Medicare Peer Review Organization Program, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost Jan 1991

Policing Cost Containment: The Medicare Peer Review Organization Program, Timothy Stoltzfus Jost

Seattle University Law Review

This Article will first examine the problem of health care cost inflation and the payment strategies the Medicare program has adopted to address that problem. It will then discuss the perverse incentives that these payment strategies create, and the role of the PRO program in addressing harmful provider behavior encouraged by those perverse incentives. The Article examines evidence on whether the PRO program is succeeding or failing in this mission, and suggests possible means of improving the effectiveness of the PRO program in policing cost containment. Specifically, it recommends clarifying and strengthening the deterrent role of the PROs, crafting PRO …

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Boeing Co. V. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.: Cercla Response Costs Covered "As Damages" Under Comprehensive General Liability Insurance Policies , Kimberly A. Richter Jan 1991

Boeing Co. V. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.: Cercla Response Costs Covered "As Damages" Under Comprehensive General Liability Insurance Policies , Kimberly A. Richter

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment will examine the CERCLA provisions that empower the government to clean up dangerous hazardous waste sites and to seek reimbursement of clean-up costs from polluters. It will then outline the standard provisions of CGL policies, which require insurers to indemnify insureds for all costs incurred "as damages" under the terms of the policy. Next, the Comment will set forth the two primary methods of interpretation employed by courts to determine whether CERCLA response costs are covered damages under CGL policies. The Comment will then set forth Washington law which provided the foundation for the Washington Supreme Court's decision …

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Private Utilization Review, Marvis J. Oehm Jan 1991

Private Utilization Review, Marvis J. Oehm

Seattle University Law Review

This Article describes the history of private UR and provides illustrations of successes, problems and controversies. The Article concludes with some suggestions and prescriptive advice for those who are likely to encounter UR, either through work with particular clients or directly as part of a private benefit plan.

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Financial Responsibility Assistance For Underground Storage Tanks: Can Washington State Run A Pollution Reinsurance Company?, John S. Conniff Jan 1990

Financial Responsibility Assistance For Underground Storage Tanks: Can Washington State Run A Pollution Reinsurance Company?, John S. Conniff

Seattle University Law Review

This Article reviews Washington state efforts to create a state financial responsibility assurance program; it analyzes EPA financial responsibility regulations; it examines the risks associated with insuring underground petroleum storage tanks; and it assesses the problems and merits of the state pollution liability insurance program as a potential solution to owner and operator financial responsibility needs. The Article concludes that the Washington program reflects the best efforts of the legislature to compromise the competing interests of the public, owners and operators of USTs, and environmental groups. If pollution insurers bargain in good faith with the state, the program will succeed …

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The Tort Crisis: Causes, Solutions, And The Constitution, Wallace M. Rudolph Jan 1988

The Tort Crisis: Causes, Solutions, And The Constitution, Wallace M. Rudolph

Seattle University Law Review

The thesis of the Article is that the expansion of tort liability based on strict liability or enterprise liability without regard to the proper measurement of damages in such cases is at the root of the insurance crisis rather than the awarding of excessive damages in ordinary fault cases. Stated another way, the expansion of tort liability was based upon the appropriateness of internalizing the cost of economic activity by spreading the risk among the beneficiaries of such activity, but the damages were measured under full compensation theories rather than a more appropriate insurance approach. This divergence between basing liability …

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Curing Washington's Occupational Disease Statute: Dennis V. Departmentof Labor And Industries, Lance Palmer Jan 1988

Curing Washington's Occupational Disease Statute: Dennis V. Departmentof Labor And Industries, Lance Palmer

Seattle University Law Review

This Note focuses on the current state of occupational disease coverage under the workers' compensation system in Washington, and will review the legislative history, the administrative interpretation, and the judicial development of the occupational disease law. Further, after setting forth the broad policy goals behind the Industrial Insurance Act and outlining Washington's occupational disease statute, this Note will conclude with a discussion of the supreme court's analytical framework for a fair, workable, and uniform method for adjudicating occupational disease claims in Washington.

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Tank V. State Farm: Conducting A Reservation Of Rights Defense In Washington, Matthew L. Sweeney Jan 1987

Tank V. State Farm: Conducting A Reservation Of Rights Defense In Washington, Matthew L. Sweeney

Seattle University Law Review

The key to properly conducting a reservation of rights defense is understanding the interrelationship between insurer, policyholder, and defense counsel. In <em>Tank v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co.</em>, the Washington Supreme Court addressed the rights and duties of the insurer and defense counsel conducting a reservation of rights defense.

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Insurance Anti-Rebate Statutes And Dade County Consumer Advocates V. Department Of Insurance: Can A 19th Century Idea Protect Modern Consumers?, John S. Conniff Jan 1986

Insurance Anti-Rebate Statutes And Dade County Consumer Advocates V. Department Of Insurance: Can A 19th Century Idea Protect Modern Consumers?, John S. Conniff

Seattle University Law Review

In 1984, a Florida court of appeals held that the Florida statutes prohibiting insurance agents from rebating part of their commissions to customers violated the due process clause of the Florida Constitution. The court concluded that no rational relationship exists between the anti-rebate statutes and the legitimate state purpose of protecting the public. The Florida decision is noteworthy because every state prohibits insurance agents and brokers from rebating to their customers a part of the commission earned from the sale of an insurance policy. In addition, every state prohibits unfair discrimination in pricing insurance policies and prohibits agreements between agents …

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Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton Jan 1983

Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton

Seattle University Law Review

This Note first explains the nature of asbestos diseases, the standard insurance policy language, and the theories of insurance coverage. It then demonstrates the misapplications of medical evidence and contract interpretation principles in Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and concludes with a discussion of the wider implications of the decision and the better theory suggested by Judge Wald. Because the facts and issues involved in Insurance Company of North America v. Forty-Eight Insulations, Keene Corp. v. Insurance Company of North America, and Eagle-Picher are essentially the same, the conclusions drawn from Eagle-Picher apply equally …

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Sex Stereotyping And Statistics—Equality In An Insurance Context, Cheryl Bleakney Jan 1983

Sex Stereotyping And Statistics—Equality In An Insurance Context, Cheryl Bleakney

Seattle University Law Review

This Comment first outlines a few basic insurance concepts and distinguishes employer-provided plans from individually purchased policies. It then examines discrimination criteria and City of Los Angeles, Department of Water and Power v. Manhart's application of Title VII and applies those principles to Supreme Court cases. The Comment also suggests that FIPA be revised to extend its gender-neutral requirements only to employer provided group plans.

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Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton Jan 1983

Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton

Seattle University Law Review

This note examines Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company v. Wiscomb. The note supports the court’s decision to prohibit unbargained for family exclusion clauses, because it furthered the policies exemplified in the Financial Responsibility Law and the Underinsured Motorist Statute and acted consistently with its decision abrogating intrafamily tort immunity. However, the note argues that by suggesting it would uphold truly bargained for family exclusion clauses denying coverage to named insureds, the court ignored its own pronouncement declaring such clauses against this state’s policy of assuring compensation for the protection of innocent victims of negligent motorists.

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Washington Title Insurers' Duty To Search And Disclose, Susan M. Stanley Jan 1980

Washington Title Insurers' Duty To Search And Disclose, Susan M. Stanley

Seattle University Law Review

This comment explores possible non-statutory sources of a title insurer's duty to search and disclose. After reviewing the historical background of title insurance and comparing it with other title assurance methods, this comment examines Washington case law, where the supreme court has failed to impose the duty. It then considers the need to impose and examines the theoretical bases of such a duty to search and disclose: whether it should lie in tort or in contract. Finally, this comment concludes that Washington courts should allow home buyers to sue title insurers for negligence in failing to reasonably search and disclose.

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