Insurance Journal

Claimants Out of Work More Likely to Die or Develop Serious Health Issues – WV Study

When workers drop out of the workforce due to a debilitating injury, they are more likely to develop serious health problems and an elevated risk of death, studies by West Virginia University researchers have shown. “The results suggest that di...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

People Moves: PCF Insurance Services Names Leadership Team Members

PCF Insurance Services (PCF), headquartered in Lehi, Utah, appointed several new members to its leadership team. Brooke DeWyze joined as chief development officer. Before joining PCF Insurance, DeWyze was chief operating officer of Moreton & Comp...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Virginia Doctor Who Prescribed More Than 500k Doses of Opioids Granted New Trial

A Virginia doctor who was sentenced to 40 years in prison after prescribing more than half a million doses of highly addictive opioids in two years has been granted a new trial by a federal appeals court that found the …

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Virginia Doctor Who Prescribed More Than 500K Doses of Opioids Granted New Trial

A Virginia doctor who was sentenced to 40 years in prison after prescribing more than half a million doses of highly addictive opioids in two years has been granted a new trial by a federal appeals court that found the …

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Founder of AgencyPoint in California Says Many Agencies Put Accounting on Backburner

Many small- to mid-sized agencies aren’t putting much thought into accounting, relegating the important function to the backburner by opting to use local accountants, agency management systems that may not be sufficient, or even relatives to ke...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Family of Black Girls Handcuffed, Held at Gunpoint in Colorado Reach $1.9M Settlement

The four Black girls lay facedown in a parking lot, crying “no” and “mommy” as a police officer who had pointed her gun at them then bent down to handcuff two of their wrists. The youngest wore a pink tiara …

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Court Nixes ‘Wrongful Life’ Framing in Upholding $38M Fertility Malpractice Award

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that claims involving the evolving field of assisted reproductive technologies can be decided using traditional negligence and medical malpractice principles and do not require consideration as novel “wro...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Johnson & Johnson Worker Alleges Company Overpaid for Drugs

Johnson & Johnson was sued by an employee who said the company’s health plan wasted workers’ money by paying inflated prices for prescription drugs. In one instance, the health plan agreed to pay more than $10,000 for a drug to &#8230...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Johnson & Johnson Worker’s Lawsuit Alleges Company Overpaid for Drugs

Johnson & Johnson was sued by an employee who said the company’s health plan wasted workers’ money by paying inflated prices for prescription drugs. In one instance, the health plan agreed to pay more than $10,000 for a drug to &#8230...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Recent Earthquakes in Oklahoma Serve as a Reminder of Ongoing Risk

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — After a dramatic spike in earthquakes in the early 2010s, state regulators in Oklahoma began taking steps to limit the injection of wastewater from oil and gas extraction deep into the ground. As a result, the …

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Kansas Banker Charged With Embezzling $47M to Buy Crypto

The former chief executive officer of a Kansas bank was charged with embezzling $47.1 million from the lender to buy cryptocurrency, as the tale of tiny Heartland Tri-State Bank and its failure unfolds. Shan Hanes, who led the bank before …

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Allstate Reverses Q4 Loss With Benefit Low Cat Losses, Auto Rate Increases

Allstate Corp. fourth quarter 2023 net income attributable to common shareholders was about $1.5 billion, reversing a loss of $303 million during the same time the prior year. Allstate CEO Tom Wilson said “improved auto profitability and mild w...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Allstate Reverses Q4 Loss With Benefit of Low Cat Losses, Auto Rate Increases

Allstate Corp. fourth quarter 2023 net income attributable to common shareholders was about $1.5 billion, reversing a loss of $303 million during the same time the prior year. Allstate CEO Tom Wilson said “improved auto profitability and mild w...

Posted: Feb 08, 2024

Wisconsin Governor Declares Flood Insurance Awareness Week

Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has proclaimed February 4-10, 2024, Flood Insurance Awareness Week in Wisconsin to recognize the state’s increasing flood risk and the importance of having appropriate insurance coverage. “Now is the time to...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Texas Got Early Warnings About Costly Grid Policy, Records Show

Texas grid officials received repeated warnings last summer that their efforts to shore up the state’s increasingly strained electric grid risked driving up power prices, records show. Concerns first arose just days after the state launched a n...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Oklahoma Man Falsely Identified as Racist Announcer Awarded $25M

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — An Oklahoma jury awarded a man $25 million on Monday after finding the state’s largest newspaper defamed him when they mistakenly identified him as the announcer who made racist comments during a 2021 broadcast of a …

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

People Moves McCarthy Joins Alliant Insurance Services in Chicago; Rockford Mutual Promotes Team Mem...

McCarthy Joins Alliant Insurance Services in Chicago Connor McCarthy has joined Alliant Insurance Services, headquartered in Irvine, Calif., as vice president within the Alliant Americas division. The Chicago-based producer will service a national cl...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

North Carolina Commissioner Rejects Proposed 42% HO Rate Hike, Sets Hearing Date

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has rejected an average 42% hike in homeowners insurance rates proposed in January by the state’s rate bureau, setting the stage for a public hearing and negotiations. “Homeowners were sho...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Ransomware Hackers Stole More Than $1 Billion in 2023

Ransomware gangs stole more than $1 billion in 2023, the largest amount ever recorded, according to a report published Wednesday by blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis Inc. With ransomware hacks, cybercriminals block access to a victims’ data...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Google Calls Out Spyware Firms and Advocates for Tighter Regulation

Internet giant Google on Feb 6 called out a series of surveillance software companies that it said were enabling the use of dangerous hacking tools, and urged the United States and its allies to do more to rein in the …

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Swiss Re, Others, Drop Call for Moscow Aviation Dispute Hearing

Swiss Re is among a growing list of reinsurers to drop its demand that a near $10 billion battle with aircraft leasing companies, seeking payouts for more than 200 jets stuck in Russia, should be heard in Moscow, court filings …

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Florida Specialty Insurer Fortegra Shelves IPO Plans at the Last Hour

Jacksonville-based specialty insurer Fortegra Group has withdrawn its plans for an initial public offering in the United States, just hours before the IPO and nearly three years after the company scrapped its earlier listing plans. The move by Forteg...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Chinese Ships Get Cheaper Insurance to Navigate Red Sea

Chinese-owned merchant ships are getting hefty discounts on their insurance when sailing through the Red Sea, another sign of how Houthi attacks in the area are punishing the commercial interests of vessels with ties to the west. The militants began...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

Sweden Scraps Probe Into Nord Stream Gas Pipeline Blasts

The sabotage of two undersea gas pipelines in 2022 remains a mystery as Sweden ended a probe without reaching any clear conclusions on the identity of the perpetrators. The preliminary investigation was dropped given nothing indicates that the attack...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024

New York Proposes Pharmacy Benefit Manager Regulations

The New York State Department of Financial Services has proposed market conduct regulations to govern pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) operating in the state. The regulations have been developed to implement a law passed in 2021 that requires licensi...

Posted: Feb 07, 2024