The South Dakota Legislature is considering a bill that would establish a statutory 75% minimum damage threshold for declaring a vehicle a total loss, which insurers say could negatively impact drivers through increased premiums and reduced road safety. Senate Bill 227 passed the Senate and is being considered in the House Transportation Committee this week. The American Property Casualty Insurance Association opposes the bill, arguing that total loss claims decisions should be guided with the goal of safe, quality repairs to address individual circumstances. APCIA says SB 227 replaces that flexibility with a hard rule that could undermine safety and…
Author: Awais
The deal, which will take Enhabit private, comes after private equity investments in healthcare reached record highs last year.
AbbVie on Monday said it would invest $380 million to build two new active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturing facilities at its Illinois campus, expanding its domestic production capacity for its neuroscience and obesity medicines. The investment is part of AbbVie’s broader effort to scale up domestic manufacturing, as drugmakers are scrambling to shore up their U.S. manufacturing capacity and domestic inventory amid the Trump administration’s hefty tariffs on pharmaceutical imports into the country. The U.S. government imposed a 100% tariff on branded drugs in October, but said it would only apply to producers who had not already broken ground on U.S.…
The UK government announced new sanctions on Russia’s so-called shadow oil fleet as it ramped up efforts to squeeze energy revenues funding the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine. Britain targeted 175 companies in the 2Rivers network, according to a statement from the foreign office on Tuesday which coincided with the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion. It also sanctioned PJSC Transneft, one of world’s largest oil pipeline companies, which it said was responsible for transporting over 80% of Russia’s oil exports. “The UK has today taken decisive action to disrupt the critical financing, military equipment and revenue streams that sustain Russia’s…
Potential fraud in state Medicaid programs is getting renewed attention, with a recent emphasis on home care, also known as personal care or in-home supportive services. Home care helps with self-care activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating for older adults and people with disabilities. KFF estimates that over 5 million people use Medicaid home care, which allows individuals to receive long-term care without moving into an institution. The Trump administration has recently pointed to Medicaid home care as a source of fraud. Medicaid home care is susceptible to fraud because services are provided in people’s homes to vulnerable individuals…
The European Union failed to approve a fresh round of sanctions against Russia as Hungary and Slovakia halted the measures, laying bare divisions within the bloc as the war in Ukraine enters its fifth year. Efforts by EU foreign ministers to get the 20th package of sanctions over the line at a meeting in Brussels on Monday were blocked by the two member states, who accuse Ukraine of disrupting oil deliveries from Russia. The dispute is also upending a €90 billion ($106 billion) loan to Ukraine. “This is a setback and a message we didn’t want to send today,” the…
Global transportation company FedEx filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of International Trade seeking a refund for President Donald Trump’s emergency tariffs, one of the highest profile moves to recover funds since the U.S. Supreme Court last week deemed the tariffs illegal. A flood of lawsuits to recover billions of dollars is expected by trade attorneys after the blockbuster ruling. The recovery process still has to be worked out by a lower court, though, complicating the matter. More than $175 billion in U.S. tariff collections are subject to potential refunds after the U.S. Supreme Court on Friday ruled 6-3…
Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo will start offering commercial robotaxi service in the three biggest cities in Texas, pushing ahead with its aggressive expansion plan after a recent setback in New York. The rollout of rides with no safety driver will begin Tuesday in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio, Waymo said in a statement. Operations will be initially be limited to zones of between 25 and 60 square miles (65 to 155 square kilometers), depending on the city. The debut advances Waymo’s goal of starting service this year in more than 20 cities, from overseas capitals such as London and Tokyo to…
During a webinar presenting the findings, Jeff Rieder (pictured on the left), partner and head of benchmarking at Aon’s Strategy and Technology Group, noted that the average monthly number of finance-related job openings fell sharply between 2022 and the end of 2025. While the annual average sat at 281, by December it had fallen to roughly 138 – the lowest monthly level seen in 10 years for finance roles, including banking and wealth.
¿Cómo deben usar la inteligencia artificial (IA) las aseguradoras de salud? La respuesta a esta pregunta inusual de política pública, encuentra en un mismo bando al gobernador republicano Ron DeSantis, de Florida, y al gobierno demócrata de Maryland, los dos contra el presidente Donald Trump y el gobernador de California, Gavin Newsom. La regulación de la inteligencia artificial, en especial su uso por parte de las aseguradoras de salud, se está convirtiendo en un tema que divide políticamente y altera las líneas partidarias tradicionales. Quienes la impulsan, con Trump a la cabeza, no solo quieren insertar la IA de lleno…
Success for the property/casualty industry in 2025 was marked by rate increases and investment income, but plateauing or softening rates in many lines of business in 2026 may pressure financial results in 2026, said AM Best. In a new report, the insurance industry financial rating analyst said it expects lower net premium growth in 2026 and has predicted that P/C industry combined ratio will increase 1.9 points to 96.9. “Macroeconomic headwinds, including rising claims costs attributable to higher prices of materials required for home, commercial property and auto physical damage repairs, will likely lead to a slightly higher industry loss…
California asked a state judge on Tuesday to stop Amazon.com from inflating prices for consumers through an alleged campaign to bully merchants not to sell goods more cheaply elsewhere. The state’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, sought a preliminary injunction in his 3-1/2-year-old antitrust lawsuit against Amazon, which also seeks to recoup ill-gotten profits. Related: Judge Rejects Amazon’s Bid to Dismiss Price Gouging Lawsuit “Amazon’s goal is to insulate itself from price competition by preventing lower retail prices in the market,” Bonta said in a heavily redacted filing in the California Superior Court in San Francisco. “Amazon tells vendors what prices…
The workers’ union said “significant movement” at the bargaining table led to the end of the strike. But according to Kaiser, union leadership accepted the wage increase that the health system already offered in October.
A wholly owned subsidiary of Sompo International Holdings Ltd. (SIH) has finalized its $3.5 billion acquisition of Aspen Insurance Holdings Ltd., taking the insurer private. Under the terms of the deal, which was first announced in August 2025, 100% of Aspen’s issued Class A ordinary shares have been purchased and the company will cease to trade on the New York Stock Exchange. Aspen has now become a wholly owned subsidiary of Endurance Specialty Insurance Ltd., a unit of SIH. Both are wholly owned subsidiaries of Sompo Group. (Sompo acquired Endurance Specialty Holdings in 2017 for US$6.3 billion as a global…