Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors are often considered by socially conscious investors when evaluating companies on sustainability and social conscientiousness. While ESG metrics can be hard to measure, the risks surrounding them are increasing. As consumer, investor, and shareholder action increasingly focus on ESG, companies and their directors and officers (D&Os) must proactively address…
The Employee Benefits Market Outlook examines critical employee benefits topics and trends, delivering insights into the market and forecasting where the industry may be headed in 2023 and beyond. Before addressing future trends, it’s critical to understand the central themes from 2022 that laid the groundwork for this year. To that end, the Market Outlook…
A Shifting Market Since 2019, the commercial insurance sector has been grappling with a hard marketplace that is notably less friendly to insurance buyers. Such challenging conditions were brought on by a confluence of factors that led insurance companies to reevaluate their positions in the industry. After all, the increased frequency and severity of claims,…
Over the last few years, almost every aspect of the workplace has changed, leading to many unforeseen challenges. Unfortunately, many challenges plaguing workplaces in 2022 will likely continue in 2023 and beyond. In particular, current labor challenges are forcing employers to find ways to balance rising costs and inflation while providing employees with benefits they…
Evolving technology, increasing threat vectors, and growing attacker sophistication have continued to drive up both the frequency and severity of cyber incidents, resulting in an ongoing rise in cyber insurance claims and subsequent underwriting losses. Amid these market conditions, most policyholders experienced higher cyber insurance rates throughout 2022. In addition to increased premiums, insureds…
DECEMBER 6, 2022 Anna Sutton was shocked when she received a letter from her husband’s job-based health plan stating that Humira, an expensive drug used to treat her daughter’s juvenile arthritis, was now on a long list of medications considered “nonessential benefits.†The July 2021 letter said the family could either participate in a new…
JANUARY 10, 2023 [UPDATED on Jan. 11] Controlled substances became a little less controlled during the pandemic. That benefited patients (for their health) and telehealth startups (to make money). Some potentially addictive medications — like buprenorphine and Adderall — are now far more available online to patients because of regulatory changes. Given the scarcity…
DECEMBER 7, 2022 Nearly 6 million Americans have taken Paxlovid for free, courtesy of the federal government. The Pfizer pill has helped prevent many people infected with covid-19 from being hospitalized or dying, and it may even reduce the risk of developing long covid. But the government plans to stop footing the bill within months,…
JANUARY 4, 2023 OKLAHOMA CITY — By the summer of 2021, Phil Maytubby, deputy CEO of the health department here, was concerned to see the numbers of people vaccinated against covid-19 slipping after an initially robust response. With doubt, fear, and misinformation running rampant nationwide — both online and offline — he knew the agency…
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 ELKO, Nev. — When Elko County commissioners rejected a $500,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that could have helped the county create a health department or health district, Kayla Hopkins pleaded with them to reconsider. Hopkins, who has lived for nearly nine years in the sprawling rural…