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NH, AZ Authorize Crypto Reserves Two months after President Trump signed an executive order establishing a federal strategic bitcoin reserve and digital asset stockpile, New Hampshire and Arizona have...
FL Condo Bill Raises Insurance Concerns Florida lawmakers passed a bill ( HB 913 ) intended to provide condominium owners some relief from the high cost of bringing properties up to code, as a result...
State Lawmakers Shift from PBMs to PSAOs in Fight Against High Drug Costs For a while now state legislators have targeted pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, for contributing to the high cost of prescription...
TX Taking Tougher Stance on Social Media for Kids The Texas House passed a bill ( HB 186 ) that would ban social media accounts for anyone under the age of 18. The measure would also allow parents to...
IA Enacts Law Addressing Shortage of Birth Centers Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed a bill ( HF 887 ) exempting freestanding birth centers from having to obtain a certificate of need from the state’s...
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
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