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States Target School Cell Phone Use At least four states have banned or severely restricted the use of smart phones in schools in the current legislative biennium. Florida became the first state to do...
Compounded Weight-Loss Drugs Creating Headaches for State Regulators With popular weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro, Ozempic and Wegovy in short supply, many doctors, pharmacies and other providers have...
In their seminal book on the American health care system, legendary investigative reporters Donald L. Barlett and James B. Steele offered a disturbing metaphor for the illogical nature of medical pricing...
PA Lawmakers Pass Bill Regulating PBMs The Pennsylvania legislature passed a bill ( HB 1993 ) aimed at increasing oversight of pharmacy benefit managers. If signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro (D), the measure...
In a sign of the times, states have begun pursuing bills that require disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence. In March, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) signed SB 149 , making the state the first...
A report from global specialist insurance provider Hiscox indicates that U.S. small businesses are largely underinsured and lacking in insurance literacy, leaving them open to losses from property damage and lawsuits. Of the 1,000 U.S. small businesses with 1 to 50 employees surveyed by Hiscox in July, only 65% had general liability coverage, 45% had property insurance, 35% had workers compensation insurance and 32% had professional liability insurance. Eighty three percent of the respondents also failed to accurately describe what a general liability policy covers. (INSURANCE JOURNAL, HISCOX)
Despite Florida’s enactment of reforms in 2022 and 2023 aimed at helping stabilize its insurance market, premiums, which have doubled in recent years for some residents, are unlikely to go down, according to a report from catastrophe modeling firm Karen Clark & Co. The report concluded that the state’s exposure to “hurricane and severe weather risk” and “the ever-increasing costs of construction” would “continue to influence future homeowners premiums.” But the report also noted that the state’s recently enacted legislation should reduce the impact of excess litigation on insurance rates, keeping them from being even higher. (SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL, INSURANCE JOURNAL)
The use of financial products allowing hedge funds, commodity traders and energy companies to profit from or protect themselves against extreme climate events is on the rise. Average open interest in weather futures and options on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange in the period between January and September of this year was four times higher than a year ago and 12 times higher than in 2019. Trading volume on such derivatives has quadrupled in a year as well. (REUTERS)
—Compiled by SNCJ Managing Editor KOREY CLARK