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Earlier this spring, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) announced a proposed amendment to the Assessments, Dividends, Assessment Base and Large Bank Pricing (LBP) rule that it put forward in February 2011. The revised rule attempts to address lender concerns that they would be unable to comply with the new rule’s provisions, particularly the added requirement of reporting subprime and leveraged consumer loans. Under the new proposal, subprime consumer loans would be renamed "higher-risk consumer loans and securities,” and would be defined as: All consumer loans where, as of origination, or, if the loan has been refinanced, as of refinance, the probability of default within two years was greater than 20 percent, excluding those consumer loans that meet the definition of a nontraditional mortgage loan; and Securitizations that are more than 50 percent collateralized by consumer loans meeting the criteria in (a), except those classified as trading book. The FDIC is reviewing comments on the changes and has extended the compliance date for the new reporting requirements until October 1, 2012.

Experian Healthcare, the leading provider of financial information services and market intelligence for health systems, hospitals, medical groups and specialty organizations, today announced that it is ranked No. 77 on the 2012 Healthcare Informatics (HCI) 100 list. Experian Healthcare includes the capabilities from the previous acquisitions of SearchAmerica® and Medical Present Value, Inc. (MPV). This year’s ranking for the organization is an improvement from MPVs ranking of 98 on the 2011 list. SearchAmerica was not previously listed. The HCI 100 is an annual listing of the top 100 health information technology (HIT) companies based on HIT revenue earnings from the most recent fiscal year. In collaboration with Porter Research and ST Advisors LLC, HCI reviews and analyzes company reported sales figures, official financial filings, press releases and information from unrelated healthcare industry consultants to determine the most deserving companies. “We are extremely proud to be included on this year’s HCI 100 list,” said Dan Johnson, president of Experian Healthcare. “Our jump in the ranking illustrates Experian’s commitment to this sector and underscores our dedication to delivering tools and services that help healthcare providers improve their financial health.” Check out the complete results of the HCI 100.  For more information on Experian Healthcare’s products and services, visit www.experian.com/healthcare. Photo:  Shutterstock

Although 46 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have passed laws requiring consumer notification in the event of a security breach of personal information, recent large-scale and publicized breaches continue to make data security a top legislative agenda item in statehouses across the country.  Of the 15 data breach proposals introduced by State legislators this year, two have been signed into law. In Vermont, the state legislature passed a new law that requires entities to notify the state attorney general’s office within 14 days of a security breach, unless the data collector has affirmed with the attorney general’s office that a written data security plan is in place and the organization can comply with breach notification requirements. In addition, the Vermont law would require that a consumer be notified of the incident in general terms; alerted to the types of information exposed; provided with a toll-free number to call for guidance; given advice about credit monitoring; and provided with the date of the breach and its discovery by the business within 45 days. The Connecticut legislature also passed a new data breach law that requires companies to notify the state attorney general’s office of a security breach before a notice is sent to consumers. Congress is also considering data breach notification proposals.  In the Senate, several members have signaled their intent to offer data breach notification amendments when the Chamber considers cybersecurity legislation. However, there are a number of hurdles that lawmakers must address before they can move forward. First, the large number of congressional committees that have jurisdiction on the issue has led to turf battles. Also, it has been difficult for Congress to settle on a standard that would effectively preempt the current patchwork of state laws. Photo: Shutterstock