Insurance Journal

Viewpoint: How Carriers Can Break the Cycle of Medical Abuse

In Part 1 of this series, we examined how medical abuse extends far beyond excessive treatment, encompassing inflated billing, referral networks, misleading provider reports, and misuse of ancillary services. These behaviors can distort reserves, ext...

Posted: Feb 12, 2026

China Charges Former AstraZeneca Regional Head With Insurance Fraud

China has officially charged AstraZeneca’s former regional head, Leon Wang, who was detained by authorities in the country more than a year ago in relation to probes into the drugmaker’s business. The company confirmed Wang’s indict...

Posted: Feb 12, 2026

The $10 Trillion Fight: Modeling a US-China War Over Taiwan

The island at the center of the artificial intelligence boom—and increasingly the global economy—lies on geological and geopolitical fault lines. Taiwan, the producer of most of the world’s advanced semiconductors, faces intensifying pressure f...

Posted: Feb 12, 2026

Florida Insurance Costs 14.5% Lower Than Would Be Without Reforms, Report Finds

Florida’s landmark 2022 and 2023 legislative changes have had a big impact on the state’s economy, thanks to lowered insurance costs that have freed up money for other investments and have attracted new companies to the state, says a repo...

Posted: Feb 12, 2026

New York’s Mid-Hudson Insurance to Acquire Hanover Fire of Pennsylvania

Mid-Hudson Co-Operative Insurance Co. in Montgomery, New York has signed a securities purchase agreement to acquire Hanover Fire Holdings, Inc. of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. According to AM Best, the acquisition will be financed by $4.0 million i...

Posted: Feb 12, 2026

California Smoke Damage Act Would Enable Wildfire Victims to Expedite Claims

A bill touted as the nation’s first public health and insurance standards to protect families from toxic smoke contamination is making its way through California legislature. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara and Assemblymember Mik...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

‘Structural Shift’ Occurring in California Surplus Lines

The Los Angeles wildfires that kicked off 2025 not only sped up a statewide homeowners insurance market pullback, but they also played a part in an ongoing reshaping of California’s surplus lines market, according to a new report. The state&#82...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Fingerprints, Background Checks for Florida Insurance Execs, Directors, Stockholders?

Florida insurance company officers, employees, board members and even stockholders would have to undergo background checks and fingerprinting under a wide-ranging bill approved by a state House panel Wednesday morning. House Bill 1263, sponsored by s...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Illinois Sees ‘Unprecedented’ Budget Pressure From Trump Cuts

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s budget office is warning that the state is facing higher costs and more uncertainty as President Donald Trump’s administration threatens to pull back federal funding. “Over the past year, federal poli...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Texas’ Equal Parts Raises $23M to Support Acquisition Strategy

Equal Parts, an Austin, Texas-based insurance agency startup, announced it has raised $23M in Series A funding led by Inspired Capital. The investment will accelerate the company’s acquisition strategy and further develop AI tools that extend t...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

OSHA Fines Nebraska Manufacturer $148K Over Fatal Explosion

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Horizon Biofuels Inc., a manufacturer of fuel pellets, for willful and serious safety violations after a deadly explosion at the company’s Fremont, Neb...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

El Paso Airspace Reopened After FAA Rescinds 10-Day Flight Restrictions

The Federal Aviation Administration reopened airspace over El Paso and part of southern New Mexico on Wednesday morning after shutting it down for a few hours overnight amid an announcement there would be no flights for 10 days. The White …

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Western Snow Drought Raises Fire and Drought Concerns

Rain and snow are expected to return to the Rockies and the Western U.S. over the next few weeks, but it’s likely to only make a small dent in the snow drought and dry conditions across parts of the West. …

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Tennessee Approves Smallest Drop in Workers’ Compensation Costs in Years

The average workers’ compensation rates for the Tennessee voluntary market should drop about 2% this year, marking the 13th straight year for lower rates in the state. It’s also the smallest decrease in years. “Safer workplaces wher...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

New Mexico Lawsuit Accuses Meta of Failing to Protect Children

Meta has failed to disclose what it knows about the harmful effect of its platforms on children in violation of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, a state prosecutor said Monday as a trial began over the dangers of child sexual …

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

West Virginians Could Soon Lose Access to 28% of Affordable Housing

At 93, Anna Lee Pettit lives alone in a first-floor apartment at Morgantown’s Unity House Apartments, where she can get her mail indoors and avoid hauling garbage outside in the winter. She survives on Social Security benefits and said she &#82...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

House Votes to Restrict China’s Global Financial Institution Ties If Taiwan Threatened

The US House on Tuesday passed a bill that would seek to exclude China from global financial institutions if it were to threaten Taiwan and pose a danger to American interests. The legislation would establish US policy to block Chinese …

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Portuguese Insurer Fidelidade Said to Be Worth at Least €3 Billion in Revived IPO

Fidelidade-Companhia de Seguros SA, the Portuguese insurer controlled by Chinese conglomerate Fosun International Ltd., is carrying out preliminary work toward a potential listing in Lisbon that could value the company at more than €3 billion, accord...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

FDA to Review Decades-Old Food Preservative in Safety Overhaul

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday launched a broad review of a long-used synthetic preservative used in packaged foods, as the agency steps up efforts to reassess chemicals long allowed in the U.S. food supply. The FDA issued …

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Local Regulators Deny Rezoning Request for Pennsylvania Data Center Development

A county commission in Pennsylvania on Tuesday denied a request by Talen Energy to rezone hundreds of acres of land for the development of data centers, marking the latest example of local pushback hampering the U.S. expansion of server warehouses. &...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

EU Aims to Use Global Upheaval to Drive New Single Market Push

European Council President Antonio Costa said leaders are ready to make another push to unify their markets, arguing that a fracturing world order could force action on languishing reforms. “My feeling is there is a real commitment for all the...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Estee Lauder Sues Walmart Over Alleged Counterfeit Fragrances

Estee Lauder sued Walmart in California federal court on Monday, accusing the retail giant of selling knockoffs of Estee Lauder fragrance and skin care brands including Clinique, Tom Ford and Le Labo. Estee Lauder said in the lawsuit that Walmart &#8...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

South Korea Crypto Exchange Bithumb Says System Flaws Led to $40 Billion Error

South Korea’s Bithumb said on Wednesday that serious flaws had left the crypto exchange’s internal system susceptible to potential sabotage and failed to prevent an erroneous transfer of more than $40 billion in assets last week. The coun...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Climate Change and Budget Cuts Fueled South American Blazes

Human-induced climate change, along with land-use shifts and budget cuts, likely worsened recent wildfires in Argentina and Chile that are threatening some of the world’s oldest trees, an analysis has found. These regions are now receiving 20%...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026

Canadian Airlines Suspend Cuba Flights as Island Set to Run Out of Jet Fuel

Canadian airlines on Monday suspended flights to Cuba, which warned it was running out of jet fuel, as the U.S. tightens its grip on the communist-run nation’s oil supply by blocking shipments from Venezuela. Air Canada, the country’s big...

Posted: Feb 11, 2026