There is no longer a risk of a compromised chemical tank exploding in the suburbs of Los Angeles and evacuation orders for some of the more than 50,000 people were lifted, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. The county’s fire department has worked since Friday to contain a chemical tank at a GKN Aerospace plant in Garden Grove, about 35 miles southeast of Los Angeles, after it overheated and leaked. Officials at the site have warned throughout the weekend that the tank could explode or leak toxic substances. On Monday, the Orange County Fire Authority interim chief said the…
Author: Awais
Safepoint Holdings Inc., an underwriter of specialty homeowners and commercial insurance, and some of its backers are seeking to raise as much as $283.3 million in an US initial public offering. The Tampa, Florida-based firm plans to market 6.24 million shares for $15 to $17 each, while the selling shareholders are offering 10.42 million shares, according to its filing Tuesday with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. At the top of that range, it would have a market value of $1.16 billion based on the outstanding shares listed in its filing. The IPO is expected to price on June 3,…
Insurance Journal’s Risky Future series is hosting the “AI Tools for Embedded Insurance Platforms” Demo Day, a series of free AI tool demonstrations designed exclusively for (re)insurers, MGAs/Program Administrators, marketplaces, and other tech and distribution platforms. This event focuses on distribution innovation, highlighting platforms that enable insurance to be seamlessly embedded into non-insurance experiences. Demos will showcase APIs, partner ecosystems, point of sale examples, and real-time quoting and binding. In partnership with Insurance Journal, Risky Future’s AI Tools for Homeowners Data Demo Day will be held on Wednesday, May 13. Beginning at 1pm ET, AI technology experts will present and…
The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Tuesday to hear a bid by Meta Platforms to avoid a lawsuit brought by Vermont’s attorney general accusing the company of designing its Instagram social media app to be addictive to young users, as big technology companies face mounting legal risks over child and teen safety. The justices turned away Meta’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that let the lawsuit proceed, rejecting the company’s argument that courts in Vermont lack jurisdiction over the dispute. The case is part of a wave of litigation by individuals, municipalities, states and school districts nationwide amid a…
A North Carolina jury handed down what may have been the largest personal injury award in state history, five years after a retaining wall collapsed on workers, killing one and injuring four others. The lawsuit in Henderson County, near Asheville, was settled for an undisclosed amount shortly after the verdict was revealed last week, local news sites reported. But if the jury award—$45 million each for two block masons injured in the collapse—had stood, it would be considered the largest injury verdict on record, BlueRidgeNow and the Hendersonville Lightning news publications noted. The jury also included $11 million for loss…
In litigation between competitors in the insurance technology market, a preliminary injunction was again denied to Comulate, which stands accused by Applied Systems of misappropriating trade secrets. Comulate had asked a federal judge in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois to reconsider an earlier denial of an injunction against Applied. “The fallout to Comulate’s business, ultimately, at least for now, looks to me to be a product of Comulate and [CEO Jordan] Katz’s own misdeeds, such that, on balance, a preliminary injunction in Comulate’s favor would be contrary to the equities here,” ruled Judge Manish H. Shah…
Workers’ compensation specialist Beacon Mutual Insurance Co. reports it has begun mailing letters to individuals whose personal information was involved in a recent ransomware attack. Upon learning of the activity on January 14, 2026, the Rhode Island-based insurer said it took action to contain it and began an investigation that determined that an unauthorized person gained access to some of Beacon Mutual’s systems between January 7 and January 14, 2026, and acquired copies of certain data files. The insurer said it found that one or more of the breached files contained the first name or first initial and last name…
When Melanie Miller saw that her health insurance premium payment was set to nearly triple to $914 a month this year, she stopped shopping on the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The 59-year-old retired teacher, who recently moved from Ohio to Michigan, now pays $341 a month for a pair of plans, one that covers routine and urgent care and another that pays fixed amounts for hospital stays. Neither meets federal standards for comprehensive coverage. Though she practices yoga and is healthy, Miller said she still feels “vulnerable.” If she lands in the hospital, her plan pays a flat $2,000, a…
A new analysis from Lloyd’s global specialist re/insurer MS Amlin has revealed that 56% of the 670 planned US data centre projects representing nearly $800 billion in investment, are located in states that are highly exposed to either hurricanes, severe convective storms, earthquakes or winterstorms.MS Amlin’s analysis examined over 670 data centre projects that are either under construction or in the planning phase throughout the United States, revealing that 320 of these facilities are categorised as high risk for tornadoes, significant hail, and damaging winds. The research indicated that the current data centres located in states that are particularly vulnerable…
An oil pipeline operated by Plains All American in East Los Angeles, California, was shut down after a rupture, the company said on Friday. The line was struck by a third party conducting excavation work, the company added. It did not provide details on how much oil may have leaked or a timeline on when flows would be restored. The ruptured pipeline was Line 63, which gathers and distributes crude oil from the San Joaquin Valley for delivery to another pipeline and local refiners, two trading sources said. The fire department said a coordinated clean-up effort was underway and that…
The Fidelis Partnership (TFP) announced a partnership with Howden as part of a new capability in TFP’s underwriting platform, designed to deliver a step change in the automation and streamlining of the pre-bind submission process for complex risks. Through automated ingestion of broker submissions, the new TFP capability — called “Broker Connect” — is intended to significantly enhance the speed and quality of information flows between brokers and underwriters, enabling faster and more accurate underwriting decisions. The platform aims to enhance accuracy and data quality across TFP’s underwriting, operations and claims functions, ensuring data flows smoothly post-bind and eliminating the…
Brazilian prosecutors are suing health agency Anvisa and the federal government to ban the use of top-selling weed killer glyphosate, dealing a potential blow to chemical companies in Latin America’s largest economy. A special division of the prosecutor’s office tasked with protecting workers’ rights filed a lawsuit Friday seeking to ban the registration of products containing glyphosate and its derivatives. The suit also seeks to prohibit authorization for the production, export, import, sale and use of the active ingredient and its compounds, citing risks to human life, occupational health and the workplace environment. An effective cancellation of glyphosate’s registration in…
European insurers and pension funds would likely be hit harder than banks by fallout from losses in the private credit industry, the European Central Bank said after simulating a “severe” shock to the market. The “illustrative exercise” included three stages: direct private credit losses, further hits from loans to software firms in correlated leveraged debt markets and broader second-round market revaluations, the ECB said in an extract from its financial stability review published on Tuesday. Insurers faced the biggest impact in absolute terms because of their larger, less senior exposures to private credit and equity holdings in the broader market…
Transcript AI Usage Disclosure: This transcript was created with assistance from AI tools. It was reviewed and edited by KFF Staff. Chip Kahn: Today we move from the wide angle to the front line. We turn to the actual application of AI to clinical care and hospital operations across a real health system at full scale. My guest is Dr. Michael Schlosser, Senior Vice President and Chief Transformation Officer at HCA Healthcare. 190 hospitals; 2,500 ambulatory sites; more than 47 million patient encounters a year. No other private sector operator is that large and no one else deploys AI at that scale. What you will hear is how AI in health care actually gets developed for everyday…