NEWS & INSIGHTS
With the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats, the cyber insurance market can be particularly volatile and dynamic. Frequent market changes make it challenging to predict pricing accurately. The CrowdStrike and Change Healthcare incidents underscored the significant impact of a single cyberattack on multiple organizations and business sectors. Considering the potential consequences of systemic events like…
In 2024, employers across all sizes and industries encountered several trends influencing the employee benefits market. These trends, including escalating healthcare costs, a competitive job market, and regulatory concerns, shaped how employers addressed operational challenges. Notably, concerns like healthcare costs and labor market pressures are expected to persist into the coming year.
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Over the past few years, the commercial insurance sector has been grappling with persistent challenges. Rising claim frequency and severity, coupled with social inflation, evolving cyber risks, and continued losses from catastrophic natural disasters, have created a prolonged hard market. In response, carriers have responded by tightening underwriting standards, reducing capacity, and increasing premiums across most lines of coverage.
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Following years of challenging market conditions and intense underwriting scrutiny, most employment practices liability (EPL) insurance buyers with a good claims history experienced modest premium increases in 2024. Experts cautiously predict that these trends will persist in 2025. However, several factors could contribute to market volatility.
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COVID-19 News
On April 13, 2023, the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury (Departments) issued frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) preventive care coverage requirement. The Departments issued these FAQs in response to a recent court decision from Texas (Braidwood Management Inc. v. Becerra) that invalidated a portion of…
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked one of the largest social experiments in history. Virtually overnight, businesses across the world have been forced to rethink how they operate. Decisions made during this uncertain period will resonate for years and may serve as the base for a new, remote lifestyle post-coronavirus. Employee work-life balance is especially…
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a national campaign designed to raise awareness about mental health issues and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. Mental health issues and mental illness are common. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 60 million U.S. adults lived with mental illness in 2021. Your mental health is…
Your mental health includes how you think, feel, and act and your emotional and social well-being. Mental health can change over time, depending on factors like workload, stress, and work-life balance. Mental Health Awareness Month is a national movement in May to increase awareness about mental health, fight the stigma, celebrate recovery, and support Americans…
The Biden administration had previously announced a May 11, 2023, end date for the national and public health emergencies (PHE). Still, the signing of the bipartisan legislation terminates the national emergency as of April 10, 2023. The PHE is still scheduled to end on May 11, 2023. On Jan. 30, 2023, the Biden Administration announced…
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…
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…
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…
Between the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, and evolving job duties, more employees are experiencing mental health challenges. A 2022 Lyra survey revealed that 84% of employees experienced at least one mental health challenge over the past year. They’re feeling anxious, burnt out, stressed and depressed. As such, organizations are expected to take more responsibility for workers’…
On January 11, 2023, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (“HHSâ€) renewed the COVID-19 pandemic Public Health Emergency. This will again extend the Public Health Emergency Period (the “Emergency Periodâ€) for an additional 90 days, and as a result, numerous temporary benefit plan changes will remain in effect. Important Definitions Emergency Period HHS…
Just as HR professionals quickly adapted to changes at the height of the pandemic, they must now adapt and respond to today’s evolving expectations of organizations and employees. As such, savvy HR leaders and professionals will approach 2023 with human-centric strategies that holistically support and benefit workers. Organizations will benefit from putting people first and…