Arch Insurance Announces Family & Medical Leave Product for Employers as Alternative to Massachusetts State Sponsored Plan

Arch Insurance today announced it is offering a Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) product to employers in Massachusetts in response to new state legislation mandating that all employers make available paid family and medical leave coverage for every worker in the state.

Recently announced Massachusetts legislation (MGL c.175M) establishes a system for paid family leave of up to 12 weeks to care for a family member and up to 20 weeks for an insured’s own illness, with benefits beginning in 2021.

In accordance with the new law, all people who work in Massachusetts will automatically be enrolled in the state plan for PFML coverage. Employers and employees participating in the state-sponsored coverage are required to submit contributions (via payroll deductions) to the state starting in Q4 2019 with benefits beginning Jan. 1, 2021.

The new Arch product, underwritten by Arch Insurance Company, is a private plan that meets criteria allowing employers to file for an exemption from the state sponsored plan and eliminating the need to submit employer and employee contributions to the state fund. To be exempt from contributions for Q4 2019 and forward, the application needs to be approved by Dec. 20, 2019.

“Our new plan is an excellent alternative to the Massachusetts state sponsored plan,” said Thomas Foschino, Arch’s Vice President of Accident & Health. “Additionally, Arch Insurance has experience with similar plans in other states.”

Insurance brokers or employers who are interested in learning more about the Arch Massachusetts PFML plan can visit the Arch Insurance website.

About Arch Insurance North America

Arch Insurance North America, part of Arch Capital Group Ltd., includes Arch’s insurance operations in the United States and Canada. Business in the U.S. is written by Arch Insurance Company, Arch Specialty Insurance Company, Arch Excess & Surplus Insurance Company and Arch Indemnity Insurance Company. Business in Canada is written by Arch Insurance Canada Ltd.

About Arch Capital Group Ltd.

Arch Capital Group Ltd., a Bermuda-based company with approximately $12.49 billion in capital at June 30, 2019, provides insurance, reinsurance and mortgage insurance on a worldwide basis through its wholly owned subsidiaries.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. This release or any other written or oral statements made by or on behalf of Arch Capital Group Ltd. and its subsidiaries may include forward-looking statements, which reflect our current views with respect to future events and financial performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in or incorporated by reference in this release are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "believe" or "continue" or their negative or variations or similar terminology. Forward-looking statements involve our current assessment of risks and uncertainties. Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. A non-exclusive list of the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements includes the following: adverse general economic and market conditions; increased competition; pricing and policy term trends; fluctuations in the actions of rating agencies and our ability to maintain and improve our ratings; investment performance; the loss of key personnel; the adequacy of our loss reserves, severity and/or frequency of losses, greater than expected loss ratios and adverse development on claim and/or claim expense liabilities; greater frequency or severity of unpredictable natural and man-made catastrophic events; the impact of acts of terrorism and acts of war; changes in regulations and/or tax laws in the United States or elsewhere; our ability to successfully integrate, establish and maintain operating procedures as well as integrate the businesses we have acquired or may acquire into the existing operations; changes in accounting principles or policies; material differences between actual and expected assessments for guaranty funds and mandatory pooling arrangements; availability and cost to us of reinsurance to manage our gross and net exposures; the failure of others to meet their obligations to us; and other factors identified in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The foregoing review of important factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with other cautionary statements that are included herein or elsewhere. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191010005583/en/