How Commercial Insurers, Self-Insured Employers, PBMs, and Manufacturers Are Turning GLP-1 Pharmacy Benefits Into Active Managed-Access Operating Systems and Where...
Commercial insurers, self‑insured employers and PBMs are overhauling GLP‑1 pharmacy benefits as the class erupts in cost and utilization. KFF data shows 43% of firms with 5,000+ employees now cover GLP‑1s for weight loss, up from 28% a year earlier, and 66% flag a significant spend impact. PBMs such as Evernorth and Optum have introduced managed‑access programs with cost caps, coaching and eligibility gates, while manufacturers like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk launch direct‑to‑employer channels priced at $449 per dose. The core challenge remains low persistence, with roughly half of patients discontinuing within a year, driving demand for outcomes‑based contracts and adherence infrastructure.
The Onset of 'Death by AI' Claims
Gartner predicts more than 2,000 legal claims worldwide by year‑end linked to "death by AI," as software errors or faulty implementations cause fatalities. The health‑insurance segment is poised to feel the first wave, given the rise of AI‑driven diagnostics and...
Physician-Owned Hospitals Get a Narrow CMS Opening
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Request for Information (CMS‑1849‑P) asking whether its Innovation Center can waive the ACA’s Section 6001 to let physician‑owned hospitals voluntarily join the Transforming Episode Accountability Model. A 2023 study found these...
Lloyd’s Delivers Strong Results Despite Softer Pricing: Fitch
Fitch says Lloyd’s strong underwriting and capital position will help it weather a softer pricing cycle through 2026. The market posted £5.2 bn ($6.5 bn) underwriting profit and an 87.6% combined ratio, while investment income reached £6.0 bn ($7.5 bn). Solvency II coverage stood at...
Chesnara Makes Sue-Ann Ind Group CRO
Chesnara, the European life‑and‑pensions consolidator, appointed Sue‑Ann Ind as its group chief risk officer, effective 1 September 2026. Ind arrives after eight years as group CRO and executive director at International Financial Group and more than six years leading risk and...
Boleron Says It Is First Insurance Broker Approved by OpenAI to Distribute Through ChatGPT
Boleron, a Bulgaria‑based broker, became the first insurance intermediary approved by OpenAI to distribute policies through ChatGPT, initially launching a travel‑insurance quote‑compare experience. The firm plans to make 35 products from ten carriers available on AI platforms by the end...
Blenheim Underwriting Adds Munich Re’s Ian Ritchie as Contingency Underwriter
Blenheim Underwriting has appointed Ian Ritchie, formerly of Munich Re’s Lloyd’s syndicate, as its new Contingency Underwriter effective June 2026. Ritchie will broaden the MGA’s non‑appearance portfolio by adding lines such as event cancellation, prize indemnity, contractual bonus, over‑redemption, film...
Peloton SCA Dismissed: Product Safety Allegations and D&O Exposure
Peloton Interactive successfully had a securities class action alleging product‑safety misstatements dismissed by the Eastern District of New York. The plaintiffs claimed the company concealed defects in bike seat posts and misled investors about recall exposure, but the court found...
US SCS Loss Surge Largely Driven by Non-Hazard Factors, Not Just Climate: Gallagher Re’s Bowen
Gallagher Re’s chief science officer Steve Bowen says the surge in U.S. severe convective storm (SCS) losses since 2008 is driven largely by macro‑economic and socioeconomic forces, not just climate change. Roughly 80‑90% of the loss increase stems from higher...
Lloyd’s Shifts to More Competitive, Capital-Driven Market, Says Howden Re
Howden Re’s latest Lloyd’s market analysis shows the London market is becoming more competitive and capital‑driven. Capacity continues to grow, backed by strong capital inflows, while pricing softens and profit remains resilient. Growth now stems from volume, portfolio mix and...
Fuse Launches Live Peril Dashboard for Commercial Insurance
Fuse International has released Watch, a live peril dashboard that visualizes every active US weather and natural‑hazard event on a single map for commercial insurance professionals. The platform aggregates data from the National Weather Service, NOAA, USGS and satellite sources,...
ADNIC Secures Regulatory Approval to Establish Branch in India’s GIFT-City
Abu Dhabi National Insurance Company (ADNIC) secured a licence to conduct reinsurance business from India’s GIFT City, effective April 1, 2026. The approval expands ADNIC’s international footprint, building on its existing cross‑border reinsurance activities in India and its recent entry...
Campaigners Criticise Changes to California's Intervenor Process for Setting Premiums
California regulators have altered the intervenor process that allows consumer groups to challenge health‑insurance premium filings. The revisions tighten filing deadlines, raise the evidentiary burden, and limit the number of intervenors that can participate. Advocacy organizations argue the changes will...
Legacy Architecture Blocks Insurers' Agentic AI
Insurers are eager to deploy agentic AI, but fragmented legacy systems are the primary obstacle to scaling the technology. Core policy administration platforms, built for human‑centric batch processes, lack the real‑time API connectivity required for autonomous underwriting, claims handling, and...
Court Rejects Anthem’s Attempt to Relitigate Arbitration Losses Under No Surprises Act
A California federal judge dismissed Anthem's federal claims against billing firm HaloMD, ruling that the No Surprises Act permits only extremely limited judicial review of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) arbitration outcomes. The court held that the statute already provides mechanisms...
Beazley’s $1B Hormuz Bet. Aon Expands Data Centers
Beazley announced a $1 billion Lloyd’s marine war consortium covering hull and cargo risks on ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz. Aon expanded its Data Center Lifecycle Insurance Program to $3.5 billion, adding coverage for construction, operational damage, cyber, and third‑party liability....
Quantifying Cyber Risk
The article argues that cyber risk must be quantified to answer concrete business questions, not merely to produce abstract loss figures like $420 million. It stresses that quantification should start with the adverse impact on enterprise objectives and use scenario‑based ranges...
AXA XL Appoints Global Chief Underwriting Officer for Structured Risk Solutions
AXA XL has promoted Jiten Halai to global chief underwriting officer for its Structured Risk Solutions unit. In this role, Halai will steer the development of non‑traditional insurance products aimed at corporate clients and captive insurers. The appointment underscores AXA...
How Late 2025 and Early 2026 Earnings Calls Expose the Medicare Advantage Pullback, the Migration of Margin From Insurance to...
Late‑2025 and early‑2026 earnings calls reveal that senior health‑care utilization has reset at a higher level, forcing insurers to reprice rather than recover margins. Medicare Advantage growth has stalled, with carriers cutting supplemental benefits and focusing on per‑member profitability, hurting...
Texas Appoints New Captive Insurance Specialist
The Texas Department of Insurance has hired Andrew Norton as a captive insurance specialist to bolster oversight of the state’s expanding captive market. Texas now hosts 102 active captive insurers and has issued five new licences in 2026. Norton's appointment...
Cell Captive Regulation to Be Reviewed in New Zealand Consultation
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has opened a public consultation on its Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Amendment Bill, which includes multi‑cell captive insurers in its scope. The bill aims to modernise New Zealand’s insurance prudential framework and bring it closer to...
Agam ISAC Platform Sees Continued Growth in Bermuda
Agam Capital is acting as the principal advisor for a new Bermuda‑based reinsurance platform launched by one of the United States' largest mutual life insurers. The entity is organized as an incorporated segregated account (ISA) and operates as a Class E...
Achmea Appoints Rogier Peters as Executive Board Member and CRO
Achmea, a leading Dutch insurer, announced that Rogier Peters will become a member of its Executive Board and Chief Risk Officer on 1 October 2026, succeeding Michiel Delfos. Peters brings a strong actuarial background and CRO experience from MSIG Europe, Ageas UK,...
Delaware Court Rejects “Public Offering” Exclusion in De-SPAC Coverage Dispute
The Delaware Superior Court ruled that the “public offering” exclusion in View’s D&O policy does not bar coverage for claims arising from its de‑SPAC transaction, because the shares were issued by the SPAC parent, not View itself. The court also...
CMS Just Moved $13 Billion in Medicare Advantage Payments. Here's What Healthcare Investors Need to Know.
CMS announced a 2.48% Medicare Advantage rate increase for 2027, adding roughly $13 billion in federal payments. The agency also froze the risk‑adjustment model, reversing a proposed -3.32% recalibration that would have erased most growth. Simultaneously, CMS eliminated 11 Star Ratings...
You Are in the 4%
The IRDAI annual report shows only 4% of India’s 1.4 billion population—about 60 million people—carry personal health insurance. Despite rising medical costs, crowdfunding for treatment has surged 2‑2.5 times since 2022, highlighting a financing gap. The author identifies four barriers to coverage: lack...
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Postpones Modifier 25 Policy in Response to Osteopathic Advocacy
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan announced a postponement of its proposed modifier 25 reimbursement policy after coordinated advocacy from five osteopathic organizations. The delay aims to preserve accurate billing for evaluation and management services, especially osteopathic manipulative treatment, and to...
Vermont Captive Sues Reinsurers over Claims Linked to Church-Affiliated Entities
Gencon Insurance Company of Vermont, a captive insurer for Seventh‑day Adventist Church affiliates, has filed a lawsuit against its reinsurers, AIG’s Lexington Insurance Company and Swiss Re’s Westport Insurance Corporation. The complaint alleges breach of contract and violation of the...
Beyond Risk Launches Unified Health Benefits Funding Platform
Beyond Risk has introduced Beyond Health Partners, a unified health benefits funding platform that consolidates its stop‑loss, captive and cost‑containment businesses. The new platform integrates SL Management Partners, Captive Solutions & Options, and the Beyond Health captive team under one...
Building Risk Reflexes for Stronger, Faster, Smarter Internal Audit
Internal audit faces mounting pressure as risk environments become more complex and CEOs rate risk management over 50% more important. Gartner highlights a widening risk confidence gap—88% of owners are motivated but only 35% feel capable. To close this gap,...
CEO John Doyle Expects Marsh to Be an ‘AI Winner’
Marsh CEO John Doyle announced that the firm will become an “AI winner” by leveraging its scale to embed artificial intelligence across three pillars—growth, productivity and efficiency. The company is rolling out AI‑enabled products such as ADA, Centris, Euclid and...
AM Best Revises Florida Farm Bureau Group’s Outlook to Positive
AM Best has affirmed Florida Farm Bureau Group’s B++ financial strength rating and its “bbb+” long‑term issuer credit rating, while upgrading the outlook from stable to positive. The change follows a series of underwriting improvements, including rate hikes, stricter guidelines and...
Dark Matter Changes; Mfg. DPA, QC, AI, Data Decisioning Tools; A Strained Housing Market; Insurance/Climate Interview
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s conference highlighted a surge in mortgage‑servicing‑rights (MSR) multiples, now trading in the mid‑5x range, while the Senate’s 21st Century ROAD to Housing bill faces drafting errors and controversial FHA fund reallocations. Dark Matter Technologies announced Vikas...
Alabama Raises Captive Surplus Requirements, Introduces GAAP Reporting
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed House Bill 415 on April 15, raising surplus requirements for most captive insurers, mandating GAAP financial reporting, and requiring notification of material business‑plan changes. The legislation follows a September 2025 moratorium that halts new captive...
Eirion Risk Underwriters Launches Construction Professional Liability Program
Eirion Risk Underwriters has launched a Construction Professional Liability (CPL) program that offers annual, project‑specific and Owner’s Protective Professional Indemnity coverages. The product is backed by A+ XV‑rated capacity from Beazley at Lloyd’s of London, providing limits up to $10 million...
Differences in Solvency II Internal Model Asset Calibrations Still "Moderate to Significant"
The European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (Eiopa) released a new study revealing that differences in Solvency II internal‑model asset calibrations across European insurers remain "moderate to significant." The analysis shows that divergent market‑ and credit‑risk assumptions can cause noticeable swings...
Liberty Specialty Markets Unveils Several New Appointments Within FinPro Division
Liberty Specialty Markets announced four senior underwriting appointments in its Financial and Professional Lines (FinPro) division, reshaping leadership across London and UK regional markets. Lucy Ling and Amanda Burnell will head D&O London and Professional Indemnity (PI) London respectively, while...
Former Verisk CEO Stephenson Joins ZestyAI’s Board of Directors
ZestyAI, an AI‑driven insurance risk analytics firm, announced that former Verisk Analytics chairman, president and CEO Scott Stephenson has joined its board. Stephenson spent over two decades at Verisk, guiding the company through a market‑cap surge that more than quadrupled...
Captive Insurance Identified as a Financing Mechanism Supporting Renewable Energy Growth: AXA XL
AXA XL released the report "Future Energy Finance: How Captives are Powering Renewable Growth," highlighting captive insurance as a pivotal financing tool for the accelerating renewable‑energy transition. The study notes that by 2030 global renewable capacity could add 4,600 GW, with...
Global Insured Losses From Natural Disasters Expected to Hit $20bn in Q1 2026
Global insured losses from natural disasters are projected to reach $20 billion in the first quarter of 2026, according to leading catastrophe modelling firms. The estimate reflects a surge in severe weather events, with tropical storms and flooding accounting for the...
US Court Strikes Down IRS 831(b) Listed Transactions Designation
A U.S. district court in Texas partially struck down IRS regulations governing 831(b) micro‑captive transactions. While the court affirmed the IRS’s designation of these captives as “transactions of interest,” it ruled the agency did not substantiate a presumption that they...
A Guide to Trade Credit Insurance
The International Credit Insurance & Surety Association (ICISA) released "A Guide to Trade Credit Insurance," a practical desk reference that demystifies credit insurance for credit managers and treasury professionals. The book explains policy structures, underwriting, claims, and shows how insured...
What the Insurtech Wave Missed
The latest insurtech surge modernized quoting, underwriting and API connectivity, yet it sidestepped the foundational producer data layer. Fragmented records across carriers, MGAs and state registries have left identity, hierarchy and compliance information in disarray. This data chaos fuels manual...
The War Premium — Defense, Insurance, and the New Cost of Global Trade
In February 2026 the U.S. and Israel’s airstrikes on Iran triggered a rapid collapse of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, not by missiles but by a spike in war‑risk insurance premiums. Premiums surged from under 0.25% to 5% of...
Admiral's Motor Book Becomes Largest Source of Emissions, Overtaking Investments
Admiral Group disclosed that its motor insurance book has become the company's largest source of greenhouse‑gas emissions, overtaking its investment portfolio. The rise reflects emissions tied to vehicle usage, claims processing and underwriting activities across the motor book. Admiral’s climate...
How Insurers Can Use Structured Information for Project Risk Evaluation
A new NIMA Information Management Initiative working group will launch Project IIRIS, a two‑year effort to create a framework and tools that let insurers evaluate construction project risk using structured data. The initiative will define insurer information requirements, develop a...
We Are Measuring the Value of TPRM Wrong
At Icon 2026 the speaker warned that companies are measuring third‑party risk management (TPRM) value the wrong way, treating it as a simple technology purchase or compliance checklist. He argued the true business case centers on avoided disruption, avoided loss, and...
AI Transforms Workers Comp for Brokers
Workers’ compensation brokers are moving from pure quoting to strategic risk‑advisory roles as employers demand deeper insight into safety and cost control. Surveys show 69% of employers now prefer advisory relationships, while 56% of claims professionals feel overloaded by claim...
Five Carriers Got Breached. They Wouldn't Insure Themselves
Over the past year ransomware group Scattered Spider breached five major insurers—Beacon Mutual, Farmers, Erie, Philadelphia Insurance Companies, and Aflac—by exploiting help‑desk social engineering, incomplete multi‑factor authentication, and weak endpoint monitoring. Those same control failures are now non‑negotiable requirements in...
Tesla Intertwines FSD with In-House Insurance for Attractive Incentive
Tesla has linked its Full Self‑Driving (Supervised) suite to its in‑house insurance, launching Safety Score 3.0 that automatically awards a perfect 100 score for every mile driven with FSD enabled. The update removes penalties for brief manual interventions, allowing drivers...