The Host President Donald Trump this week nominated a former deputy surgeon general who has expressed support for vaccines to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Considered a more traditional fit for the job, Erica Schwartz would be the agency’s fourth leader in roughly a year, should she be confirmed by the Senate. And Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appeared on Capitol Hill this week in the first of several hearings discussing Trump’s budget request for the department. But the topics up for discussion deviated quite a bit from the subject of federal funding,…
Author: Awais
For brokers, one ongoing problem is clients’ fear of being left exposed when cover clocks down. Srinivas Prasanna, senior vice president and marine hull leader in Asia for Marsh, said the market’s first reaction when the conflict started last month was alarmingly short-term. “The panic button was really on and every single day these conversations keep happening because, when the conflict started, markets just gave seven days cover,” he said.
Certain tasks can be handled efficiently by machines, such as document intake, chronology building, identifying inconsistencies and flagging anomalies. Platforms like Wisedocs are built around this layer, using AI trained on large volumes of claims data to extract and organize key information while maintaining human oversight.
The agency said it developed concerns about the limited evaluation process for the devices after gaining experience with the alternative pathway.
The Professional Insurance Agents of Arkansas (PIA Arkansas) announced that Executive Director Staci Shearon will retire effective May 29, 2026, concluding nearly 20 years of leadership and service to the association and the independent insurance community. Shearon informed the PIA Arkansas Board of Directors of her decision earlier this month. During her tenure, she played a central role in strengthening the association’s presence across advocacy, education, and member engagement, helping position PIA Arkansas as a leading voice for independent agents in the state. The Board emphasized that it is actively managing the leadership transition to ensure continuity and stability. A…
New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani is seeking to lower the cost of property and liability insurance for affordable and rent-stabilized housing through a new city-run insurance program. Mamdani plans to hire independent actuarial experts to design and launch the insurance program with the goal of offering coverage in 2027. By 2027, the city hopes to lower the cost of insurance policies for 20,000 homes and, by 2030, for as many as 100,000 homes. The city plans to this week issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) for an actuary or risk consultant that will provide expertise to design the…
The two volunteer fire departments serving the western Pennsylvania borough of Vandergrift have resumed responding to 911 calls. Mayor Lenny Collini said the firefighters returned to their stations on Thursday after a six day interruption due to a lapse in the required workers’ compensation insurance policy. Fire Departments Halt Service Due to Lapse in Workers’ Compensation Collini said the insurance policy was restored yesterday and fire services resumed. The borough became aware that the workers’ compensation policy had lapsed on Friday April 10, which the mayor told citizens in a letter meant the policy could not be reinstated until this…
Marsh aims to be an “AI winner” through growth, productivity and efficiency gains, according to John Doyle, president and CEO of the broker and risk adviser. “[W]e see AI as a powerful accelerator and enabler in delivering value to our clients, colleagues and shareholders,” Doyle said during an earnings call with equities analysts to discuss first quarter results. (See below for Marsh’s Q1 results wrapup). He emphasized it’s important to remember that Marsh is not selling commoditized products or simply procuring insurance at the lowest possible price. “[Artificial intelligence] will help us serve our clients who have bespoke and complex…
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…
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.