Shipping companies have cautiously welcomed Iran’s announcement that the Strait of Hormuz is open but said they would require clarifications before vessels move through the entry point to the Gulf. Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Friday that the Strait of Hormuz was open to all commercial vessels during a 10-day Lebanon ceasefire accord, prompting a fall in oil and other commodity prices while stock markets rose. “We are currently verifying the recent announcement related to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, in terms of its compliance with freedom of navigation for all merchant vessels and secure passage,” said…
Author: Awais
Employer-sponsored health insurance is the largest source of health coverage for people under 65, covering 165.6 million people in March 2025, but its reach is uneven. About four in five (80%) adult workers under age 65 work for an employer that offers health insurance to at least some employees—a share that falls to 60% for lower-paid workers. Additionally, some workers do not enroll even when coverage is offered: employer-sponsored health insurance covered only 22.5% of people under 65 with incomes below 200% of poverty—compared to 82.5% of people with incomes of at least 400% of poverty. This analysis examines who…
A federal judge last month approved a preliminary class settlement resolving claims that State Farm underpaid Arkansas policyholders for total loss vehicle claims by applying an erroneous valuation method. Under the settlement agreement, State Farm will pay $15.6 million to policyholders who filed a total loss claim between November 2016 and October 2021 and whose claim payment was based on an appraisal report from Audatex. Plaintiffs allege that State Farm used valuation reports prepared by Audatex that underrepresented the actual cash value of a loss vehicle by applying typical negotiation adjustments. The use of the typical negotiation adjustments systematically “thumbs…
The Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) of the Bank of England has confirmed that it will continue to work with the HM Treasury on further reforms to enhance insurance-linked securities (ILS) and catastrophe bond frameworks in the United Kingdom in order to amplify competitiveness within the market.Today, the Prudential Regulation Authority published its business plan for 2026/27 and highlighted continued development of its insurance-linked securities (ILS) and alternative reinsurance capital frameworks. In November 2024, we reported that the UK’s Prudential Regulation Authority was consulting on reforms to approval timelines for the insurance special purpose vehicle (ISPV) regulatory regime, which includes an…
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Today, a digital, “on-demand” economy has expanded the definition of the workplace, placing more employees in dynamic, less controlled environments. Workers are interacting with the public more frequently, often under heightened expectations for speed and service. Those expectations, McKenna noted, are contributing to more volatile interactions.
JOEL BERVELL: My guest on this episode of The Dose is Dr. Mike Varshavski, better known to millions simply as Doctor Mike. And if you spend any time at the intersection of medicine and the internet, you’ve probably seen him. With more than 30 million followers across platforms, Doctor Mike has become one of the most recognizable physician voices online, and he does it all. He reacts to medical scenes in shows like The Pitt, calls out viral misinformation, hosts his own podcast, and still practices medicine, running a primary care clinic in New Jersey.But for me, what makes his…
The annual SantaCon bar crawl that floods New York City with inebriated young people in Santa suits every holiday season was run by a real-life Grinch, according to federal prosecutors. Event organizer Stefan Pildes was arrested Wednesday on charges that he pocketed the majority of the $2.7 million supposedly raised for charity through SantaCon events from 2019 to 2024. Money that was supposed to be divided among neighborhood charities was instead used to renovate a lakefront property in New Jersey, buy concert tickets, pay for his fancy car, and finance extravagant meals and luxury vacations in Hawaii and Las Vegas,…
Nathan Adams, chief people officer at Lloyd’s, said: “Dive In has been a hugely successful initiative and has provided the springboard to further evolve the market-led drive to improve the approach to talent, skills and culture. The new, broader approach will be developed with the market, for the market.”
Jay Foreman said he’s “locked and loaded” for the U.S. government’s launch on Monday of a new system to refund up to $166 billion in illegally collected tariffs, but he and many other importers are realistic that much could still go wrong. “You have to be worried about what they could possibly do to jam things up,” said the CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which sells Tonka trucks, Care Bears and K’Nex construction toys. The refund system is the latest twist in a drawn-out battle over tariffs collected over the past year as part of President Donald Trump’s effort to…
Florida home insurer Olympus Insurance Co. announced it has expanded its risk transfer capabilities with a successful debut in the catastrophe bond market, completing its first-ever issuance through the newly established Abacab Re Ltd. The $120 million catastrophe bond provides multi-year, capital markets-backed reinsurance protection against Florida named storms risk. “As a Florida-focused insurer with meaningful hurricane exposure, robust and reliable reinsurance protection is fundamental to everything we do,” says Tim Stroble, CEO of Olympus Insurance. ” The catastrophe bond issued by Bermuda-domiciled Abacab Re Ltd complements Olympus’ existing traditional and statutory reinsurance protections. Olympus said the bond initially launched…
The Trump administration on Thursday proposed weakening rules for the disposal of ash produced by burning coal that can contain hazardous heavy metals and contaminate groundwater. Those regulations were strengthened under the Biden administration as part of a wider crackdown on pollution from coal-fired power plants. The Trump administration proposed easing standards for monitoring and protecting groundwater near some coal ash sites, and rolling back rules that require the cleanup of entire coal properties rather than just the sites where ash was dumped. The revisions would also make it easier to reuse coal ash for other purposes. EPA Administrator Lee…
If confirmed by the Senate, Schwartz could finally fill a void for an agency that’s cycled through multiple leaders over the last year.
The Governing Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California voted to authorize the WCIRB to submit a September 1, 2026, pure premium rate filing to the California Insurance Commissioner proposing advisory pure premium rates that will be on average 10.4% above the average approved September 1, 2025 advisory pure premium rates. The proposed advisory pure premium rates are based on insurer losses and loss adjustment expenses incurred during accident years 2025 and prior. Related: California Workers’ Comp Bureau Upping Fee for Special Inspections WCIRB Executive Vice President and Chief Actuary Tony Milano noted that the more notable…