HELP w/SQL Server 2012 and insert_id

I have a piece of code:

PHP Code:

$this->db->insert($this->table, $data);
$new_id        = $this->db->insert_id(); 


For SQL Server 2012, the $new_id suddenly stopped working, the record is inserted, but I am not getting back the newly created ID.

2 questions:
1) Any ideas how to fix this?
2) How bad would it be to use:

Code:

$this->db->query('Select MAX(ID) from table')->row()

in this instance?

I am using the MSSQL db driver:

Code:

'dbdriver' => 'mssql',
'dbprefix' => 'frontend.',