Universal Insurance Holdings, Inc. once again expanded its reinsurance limit at the 2026 mid-year renewal, lifting the top of the reinsurance tower to $2.623 billion, with institutional capital from ILS manager Nephila Capital a key participant in the renewal again for the insurer.Universal continues to access reinsurance capital from all sources, but recall that the insurer has not sponsored a catastrophe bond since 2021, which sets it apart from many of its Florida domiciled, but also nationally expansive competitors these days. But its partnership with Nephila Capital as a key reinsurance market has been in effect for over a decade…
Author: Awais
Céline Gounder, KFF Health News’ editor-at-large for public health, discussed recent warnings about research-grade peptides and new colorectal cancer screening guidelines on CBS News’ CBS Mornings on May 27. She also discussed the Ebola outbreak centered on the Democratic Republic of Congo and whether it’s expected to spread on May 26.
Insurance broker and risk adviser Gallagher has collaborated with FloodFlash, a NormanMax company, to launch a new parametric insurance solution designed to protect golf courses from mitigate financial disruption caused by flooding and severe weather.The new arrangement is designed to provide a faster and more flexible form of financial protection against these risks. Intense rainfall as well as extreme weather events such as hurricanes and coastal surge events can cause flooding and pose significant challenges for golf courses, especially for venues located near rivers, lakes or coastal zones In light of this, the new parametric insurance solution being introduced by…
The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) is looking to upsize its latest catastrophe bond sponsorship, with the target raised one-third to $400 million of fully-collateralized earthquake reinsurance protection from this Sutter Re Ltd. (Series 2026-1) issuance, Artemis has learned.The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) has become a very consistent sponsor of catastrophe bonds, with this marking its 24th sponsorship we have tracked from the firm. Last year, the CEA successfully sponsored three series of catastrophe bonds, securing the company in total $1.57 billion of earthquake reinsurance protection from the cat bond market. For its first cat bond sponsorship in 2026, the CEA is…
In general, analysts from KBW heard during a recent Bermuda trip that reinsurance pricing is down about 20% at the mid-year renewals (the report is headlined “20% is the new 15%”), but even after the softening taking rates back to levels seen in 2021 to 2022, this is still “widely viewed as adequate”, the analysis explains.“We pin the headline number for midyear property cat reinsurance renewals risk-adjusted pricing as down 20% (we heard ranges of 15-20%, 17.5-20%, and 20% or more, with the former two often noted to be closer to the 20% end of the ranges),” KBW’s analysts state.…
The percentage of Americans without insurance last year remained relatively flat compared to 2024. However, more people are likely to lose coverage in the years to come due to healthcare spending cuts from the “Big Beautiful Bill.”
Aspen Capital Markets, the third-party, ILS and alternative reinsurance capital management unit that now falls under Sompo after its acquisition of the re/insurer, reported another increase in fee income generated from its work with third-party capital partners in the first-quarter of 2026.Recall that, Aspen Capital Markets grew its assets under management AUM by 23% to a new high of almost $2.73 billion over full-year 2025. At the same time, fee income generated from this business segment rose 15% to $194.4 million for the full-year. Fee income continues to be extremely attractive, with a further increase likely driven in part by…
Montana will soon test whether cash-strapped and strained state health departments can carry out federal Medicaid work requirements without ending coverage for eligible adults. On July 1, Montana plans to become the second state after Nebraska to make Medicaid enrollees prove they’re working to keep their coverage. That’s six months ahead of the federal deadline for states to implement Medicaid work rules for millions of enrollees. That date is also the start of a new state budget year, as well as the deadline for Montana health officials to climb out of a previous Medicaid-driven spending deficit. Montana lawmakers underfunded the health agency when they set the state budget last year…
President Donald Trump filed a new version of his $10 billion libel lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal and its parent company News Corp. over an article about his alleged close ties to Jeffrey Epstein, after an earlier version of the suit was tossed out by a judge. The revised suit was filed late Wednesday in federal court in Florida, meeting a deadline set by a judge who dismissed the original complaint for lacking sufficient claims that the story was filed with “actual malice” toward Trump, a high bar set for libel suits by public figures. Trump sued over a…
A highly anticipated rule finalized Thursday meaningfully improves how insurers and providers settle disputes over out-of-network bills. But payers say it doesn’t go far enough to curb alleged provider abuse.
A Google software engineer was charged with insider trading on Polymarket, where he allegedly made more than $1 million betting on one of last year’s most popular Internet searches. Michele Spagnuolo was charged in a complaint unsealed Wednesday in federal court in New York. Spagnuolo, 36, appeared before a federal magistrate and was released on a $2.25 million bond. Mike Ferrara, a lawyer for Spagnuolo, declined to comment on the charges. The case comes amid growing concern about insider trading on prediction markets. The charges against Spagnuolo come just a little more than a month after a US Army Special…
Insurance Australia Group Ltd. said it has agreed to a settlement of proceedings brought by Greensill Bank AG and its insolvency administrators. IAG said the settlement won’t have a material impact on its financial position, according to a statement on Friday. Terms of the settlement are confidential, it said. The Greensill Bank proceedings are a subset of the litigation against Insurance Australia and other parties in the Federal Court of Australia. They relate to policies issued by BCC Trade Credit Pty on behalf of Insurance Australia to Greensill entities. The face value of the claimed amounts was about A$4 billion…
Climate change is in the background this US election year as high prices, conflict in the Middle East, AI and other issues take center stage. But that doesn’t mean the public has forgotten about it. More than half of Americans regard climate change as a very or moderately big problem, and only a quarter of them think the world is equipped to address the challenge, according to new survey results from the Pew Research Center. Since the group’s previous poll on the topic in 2022, storms, heat and wildfires worsened by greenhouse gas pollution have continued to damage communities and…
Five straight years of record heat, sporadic rainfall and divided leadership has Corpus Christi in danger of becoming the first U.S. city to run short of water. Only rain — lots of it — can keep the coastal city from that grim fate. Accessible sources of short-term water, including newly drilled wells, have already been tapped. A controversial desalination plant with the ability to filter seawater — rejected last year over cost and environmental concerns — is back on the table but years away from producing. Building a new lake-size reservoir is another option, but that would take even longer.…