Health insurance premiums in the U.S. significantly increased between 1999 and 2024, outpacing the rate of worker earnings by three times, according to our newly published research in the journal JAMA Network Open. Premiums can rise if the costs of the medical services they cover increase. Using consumer price indices for the main components of medical care ' such as services provided in clinics and hospitals as well as administrative expenses ' based on federal data and data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, we found that the cost of hospital services increased the most, while the cost of physician services and prescription drugs rose more slowly. Some of the premium increases can be attributed to an increase in hospital outpatient visits and coverage of GLP-1 drugs. But research, including our own, suggests that premiums have rapidly escalated mostly because health system consolidation ' when hospitals and other health care entities merge ' has led hospitals to raise prices well above their costs....

The deal will see SCM's core businesses, ClaimsPro, IPG, and Pario, integrated into Davies' global platform, expanding the firm's operations to 22 countries and increasing its annual revenues to approximately $1.4bn. More than 1,500 SCM professionals across Canada and the US will join Davies as part of the transaction. The acquisition strengthens Davies' presence across North America, adding nationwide coverage in Canada and enhancing its risk management, third-party administration, and end-to-end claims capabilities. 'The business is very highly regarded in Canada, and as market leader, this puts us in the #1 spot in this growing and vibrant market,' said Dan Saulter, Group Chief Executive Officer of Davies. 'The deal will allow us to unlock significant growth opportunities, on both sides of the ledger; with SCM clients benefiting from our global reach and wider service offering; and with Davies clients being able to access the best claims and risk solutions teams in Canada.' SCM Chief Executive Officer Bob Fitzgerald said the transaction represents a major step forward for both firms. 'Our clients will now have access to Davies' global solutions, immediately elevating our technology, AI, and platform offering,' he said....

Under the proposal, EQT is offering A$45 per share in cash, a 25.1% premium to AUB's last closing price and higher than its previous bid of A$43. The firm has been granted exclusive access to AUB's books for a six-week due diligence period that began on 8 October. The announcement sent AUB shares up 11% to a record A$39.95, though the stock remains below the proposed offer price. The Sydney-listed company has agreed to a confidentiality and exclusivity agreement with EQT as discussions progress. AUB, which has underperformed its rival Steadfast Group over the past year, counts First Sentier Investors and Capital World Investors among its largest shareholders. The company's ownership structure shifted last year following a A$277m partial sell-down by U.S. private equity firm Odyssey Investment Partners. For EQT, the move extends its ongoing push into Asia-Pacific financial services, following recent interest in Perpetual's wealth and corporate trust business. The deal, if completed, would mark one of the region's largest private equity acquisitions in the insurance broking sector this year....

'It was all the same data. It was all about the same physical object,' he told TechCrunch. 'I was like, this is nuts ' Why shouldn't I be able to have some sort of unified interface, or some sort of unified data model, that actually represents this thing correctly to whoever's looking at it'' That spurred him to found Charter. The company is not so much a dev tool for aerospace engineers (though it's used that way), as it is a fintech company for space, Chan described. The software captures manufacturing and test data directly from the source, and this dataset then feeds an underwriting interface that ties directly in with the six largest insurance carriers in the market. The goal is faster, cheaper, and more reliable risk evaluation for spacecraft insurance, and eventually to power new forms of credit and nondilutive funding for space companies looking outside venture capital and the public markets. 'The biggest technical risk that we've had to derisk is really starting to develop that underwriting model and starting to understand, what are the things that matter the most, how should they be weighted, and really starting to layer on that risk analytics piece on top of all the data that we've already captured,' Chan said....