HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, Sept. 25 -- Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro issued the following news release:

Attorney General Josh Shapiro filed an amicus brief on behalf of a coalition of 17 Attorneys General to support a lawsuit by Massachusetts challenging the Trump administration's decision to roll back a requirement under the Affordable Care Act that employers include contraceptive coverage for women in their health insurance plans.

In December 2017, Pennsylvania won a nationwide injunction from Federal Judge Wendy Beetlestone of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in a lawsuit challenging the Administration's actions. That ruling stopped the Trump Administration's rules undermining the Affordable Care Act's requirement that employers provide their employees with contraceptive coverage. The Trump administration is appealing that injunction. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts also sued the Trump Administration over its plans to change this critical rule, and the amicus brief filed today by Attorney General Shapiro and the other Attorneys General supports Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey's lawsuit.

"The Trump Administration persists in its efforts to impose illegal rules that will undermine the health and economic security of American women," said Attorney General Shapiro. "We stopped them last year when we obtained an injunction, but their efforts continue to threaten the rights of women everywhere to health care coverage. I've been an unwavering supporter of a woman's right to access affordable health care for my whole career, and I'm going to keep fighting for these basic, fundamental rights for women in Pennsylvania and across the country."

The amicus brief filed Monday with the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, supports Massachusetts' appeal to stop the federal government from implementing new rules that authorize virtually any employer with a religious or moral objection to disregard its legal obligation to provide its employees and their dependents with coverage for contraceptive care. According to the brief, rules issued by the Trump Administration violate the Affordable Care Act, which requires insurance companies to cover preventive health care services, including contraception, with no co-pays.

As a result of the ACA, more than 55 million women in the United States -- including 2.5 million Pennsylvania women and families -- have access to birth control with no out-of-pocket costs.

In addition to Attorney General Shapiro, the amicus brief was joined by the Attorneys General of California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and the District of Columbia.

RIVERWOODS, Ill., Dec. 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Federal Life Mutual Holding Company (“FLMHC”) has completed its conversion from a mutual to stock form of organization and has also completed the formation of a stock holding company Federal Life Group, Inc. (“FLG”).  Federal Life Insurance Company (“FLIC”), which conducts the primary business of the consolidated group, is now a wholly owned subsidiary of FLG.

Along with the completion of the mutual to stock conversion of FLMHC,  FLG completed a sale of 3,530,150 shares of its common stock at $10.00 per share in a stock offering to policyholders, directors, officers and employees of FLMHC and its subsidiaries, identified strategic partners, and Insurance Capital Group, LLC, (“ICG”) which served as the standby purchaser. The common stock of FLG is expected to commence trading December 12, 2018 on the Nasdaq Capital Market as (NASDAQ: FLF).

Additionally, William Austin, President and Chief Operating Officer of FLG and FLIC, has been promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer of FLG and FLIC, succeeding Joseph Austin, who has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of FLIC since 1977, and who will continue to serve as Executive Chairman of FLG and FLIC.

Griffin Financial Group, LLC acted as sole placement agent for the offering.  Stevens and Lee acted as counsel for Federal Life.

Gross proceeds of the offering are $35.3 million.  Net proceeds to Federal Life Group after payment of transaction expenses are approximately $32 million.

About Federal Life Insurance Company
FLIC is an independently operated provider of quality life insurance and annuity products, incorporated in 1899.  FLIC is headquartered in Riverwoods, Illinois, a suburb approximately thirty miles north of Chicago.  FLIC is proud of its longstanding tradition of financial strength and stability and serves over 31,000 policyholders.  www.federallife.com

About Insurance Capital Group
ICG is an opportunistic holding company which acquires and makes investments in insurance companies in targeted sectors with a focus on sponsored demutualizations and other complex conversion transactions.  ICG’s objective is to create long term shareholder value as measured by growth in tangible book value through the ownership and oversight of our insurance company investments.  www.insurancecap.com