Underwriting pressure, improving combined ratios, and deal-led growth define 2025 performance
Author: Awais
The carrier is preparing for infrastructure, manufacturing and emerging sector exposures
Primary care practices participating in alternative payment models categorized as hybrid with no downside risk — option 2 of the NASEM framework — showed significant improvement in all measures of accessibility, comprehensiveness, continuity, and coordination of care.19We had more nuanced findings for models under option 3, involving population-based payments for primary care combined with financial risk. For PCPs in the downside-risk ACO models that relied in part on traditional physician fee schedule payments, we saw significant improvements in measures of access, comprehensiveness, and coordination, as well as the most direct measure of PCP continuity. However, care fragmentation did not significantly…
King Risk Partners, one of the largest U.S. agencies, with offices across the eastern half of the country, has acquired Georgia-based Lewis Insurance, an independent agency that writes personal and commercial coverage around the Southeast. Lewis, founded more than 30 years ago, is owned by Jason Lewis. He said in a statement that the move will expand the agency’s personal and business lines offerings. Lewis has been a licensed agent since 1994 and is appointed with more than two dozen carriers, including Auto-Owners Insurance, Allstate Insurance, Travelers, Progressive and more, National Association of Insurance Commissioners records show. King Risk, headquartered…
The European Union needs to coordinate its plan to impose a full maritime services ban on Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports with other G7 countries before pushing ahead with the measure, the EU’s sanctions envoy said on Thursday. The European Commission proposed a sweeping ban on any services that support Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports on February 6, going far beyond previous piecemeal EU sanctions in its effort to stunt Moscow’s key source of income for its war on Ukraine. “I think the European Union has made clear that for the moment we are applying the oil price cap, which…
The company’s U.S. integrated care membership could decline by nearly 5% at the high end of its projections, management said during an earnings call Wednesday.
Losses from winter storms Hernando and Fern, both of which have occurred in the opening months of 2026, are expected to impact primary insurers more than reinsurance capital providers, according to ratings agency AM Best.In a new report, AM Best stated that while these losses will contribute to a meaningful decline in first-quarter underwriting profits, the impact is expected to be less severe than that of the 2025 California wildfires. “Winter Storm Hernando dropped record snowfall and blizzard conditions in the northeastern United States. The storm resulted in widespread power outages, particularly in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Delaware, and Rhode Island.…
VOLUME 41 February 26, 2026 Highlights Nearly 10% of cancer research papers showed signs of being fabricated by “paper mills” that sell manuscripts at industrial scale, with the share increasing exponentially over time, according to new research. The problem may intensify as generative AI becomes more sophisticated, prompting lawmakers to demand information from federal agencies about safeguards in place. And, persistent claims that physicians are financially incentivized to promote vaccines may be contributing to vaccine hesitancy and declining trust, even as recent analyses show doctors typically break even or lose money when administering vaccines. AI & Emerging Technology Machine Learning…
Top executives at some of Europe’s biggest insurance companies acknowledged widespread concern about private credit while seeking to reassure investors about their own investments in the asset class. Markets are worried “that when things don’t go well in the economy, there could be some fallout from private credit,” AXA SA Chief Executive Officer Thomas Buberl said Thursday on Bloomberg TV. Buberl also said that AXA’s exposure to the asset class is “far below” that of the competition because the firm had been “very mindful in the past.” Allianz SE Chief Financial Officer Claire-Marie Coste-Lepoutre echoed those comments in another interview,…
Each morning, Katherine Prevost fills her coffee maker with water from her kitchen faucet and presses the button. Until recently, she didn’t know the water may have contained a potent neurotoxin — lead. She was shocked when a water test provided by Verite News found lead detected in the water coming from the tap. “Now that means that I can’t do that anymore,” Prevost said. She already drank bottled water, but she relied on tap water for cooking everything from her gumbos and crawfish boils and other daily activities like brushing her teeth. The New Orleans native moved to her…
Texas health officials failed to follow state law when they licensed Camp Mystic without making sure it had an evacuation plan, parents of nine children and counselors who died in the July 4 flood allege in a new federal lawsuit. Camp Mystic’s emergency instructions directed kids to stay in their cabins during floods, even though Texas rules require youth camps to have evacuation plans for disasters, the lawsuit states. “Young campers and counselors were killed because the camp had no plan,” the lawsuit said. “The camp is responsible, but so are the state officials who helped create this inexcusable risk…
For US insurers, commercial auto fleets, and personal lines policyholders who tow boats, RVs, work trailers or equipment, the scale of the recall—spanning some of Ford’s most widely used trucks and SUVs—raises immediate questions around risk management, claims exposure and notification practices.
Another tough first quarter is in store for insurers when it comes to catastrophe losses—though not as severe as a year ago from the California wildfires. According to industry rating agency AM Best, insurance losses from the two major winter storms in so far in 2026 “will contribute to a meaningful decline in underwriting profits” for the first quarter. The combined losses from Winter Storm Fern late in January and more recently Winter Storm Hernando will affect homeowners, commercial property, and auto insurers most, with business interruption losses from closures and flight cancellations adding to the loss tally. While insured…
“As a mutual company with a customer-first focus, State Farm Mutual is able to provide value directly to our customers while maintaining financial strength to keep our promises in the future,” said Jon Farney (pictured), president and CEO of State Farm Mutual. “That translated this year to lower auto rates and cash back in the form of a $5 billion policyholder dividend.”