Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled that Make America Healthy Again: Enhancing Lifestyle and Evaluating Value-based Approaches Through Evidence, or MAHA ELEVATE, in December. Interested participants seeking grants under the model must have submitted a Letter of Intent by April 10, with the final application deadline set for May 15.” Click <a href="https://www.fiercehealthcare.com/regulatory/cms-unveils-new-model-aimed-functional-lifestyle-medicine" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Fierce Healthcare. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

On March 10, 2026, the U.S. Treasury Department published notice that it will <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/financial-markets-financial-institutions-and-fiscal-service/federal-insurance-office/federal-advisory-committee-on-insurance-faci" target="_child">reestablish the Federal Advisory Committee on Insurance (FACI) </a> to render advice and recommendations to the Federal Office of Insurance (FIO). According to the notice, FACI’s previous charter had lapsed. 
Treasury said the committee will “consist of up to 25 members” representing a balanced cross-section of the insurance sector. This includes state and tribal regulators, industry experts such as insurers and brokers, and consumer advocates focused on underserved communities. The committee is expected to meet four times a year, and the FIO Director will determine what information is disseminated to the committee for its consideration. The committee was established for "an initial two-year term, subject to subsequent two-year reauthorizations at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury.”

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“In a new analysis, researchers document concentration across commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid markets, examining how asymmetric information—particularly adverse selection—interacts with market power to shape premiums, plan designs and consumer welfare.” Click <a href="https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/in-u-s-health-insurance-market-consolidation-of-insurers-is-increasing-premiums" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Insurance NewsNet.

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“According to the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA), insurers are responding to a combination of structural challenges, including inflation, increasing catastrophe losses, development in high-risk areas, and litigation trends.” Click <a href="https://www.insurancebusinessmag.com/us/news/breaking-news/insurers-outline-measures-to-address-rising-premiums-569942.aspx" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article by Insurance Business Magazine. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

Recently, two trial courts handed down decisions involving challenges to the IRS’ regulations, which became effective in January 2025, for reporting listed transactions and reportable transactions involving captive insurance companies that have elected small captive or micro-captive status under <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/26/831" target="_child">Section 831(b) </a> of the Internal Revenue Code. These captive insurers can effectively deduct premium income and are taxed only on their investment income as opposed to the difference between premium income and insurance claims and related expenses. Click to read <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/subject-group-ECFR69a3d5af789efa1/section-1.6011-10" target="_child">§1.6011-10 Micro-captive listed transaction </a> and <a href="https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-26/chapter-I/subchapter-A/part-1/subject-group-ECFR69a3d5af789efa1/section-1.6011-11" target="_child">§1.6011-11 Micro-captive transaction of interest. </a>
In an opinion issued on March 5, 2026, in <i><a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/tennessee/tnedce/3:2025cv00146/118677/46/" target="_child">CIC Services LLC v. IRS, No: 3:25-cv-00146 (E.D. Tenn. 2026), </a></i> the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee upheld the regulations finding that they were not arbitrary or capricious and the U.S. Treasury and IRS did not exceed their statutory authority in promulgating the regulations and granting the IRS’s motion for summary judgement and denying CIC Services’ motion for summary judgement. 
Conversely, in an opinion issued on April 15, 2026, in <i><a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/texas/txsdce/4:2025cv02570/2011809/69/" target="_child">Drake Plastics Ltd. Co. v. IRS, No: 4:25-cv-02570 (S.D. Tex. 2026), </a></i> the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas granted in part Drake Plastics’ motion for summary judgment, vacating the listed transaction regulation, but upheld the reportable transaction regulation. The court concluded that the IRS did not exceed its statutory authority in defining reportable micro-captive transactions but did exceed its statutory authority in defining listed micro-captive transactions. The court held that reportable transactions are “of a type” that has “a potential for tax avoidance or evasion,” and defines this as a “low bar” that is met whenever a category of transactions “may allow an individual or entity to avoid paying taxes when they should have,” even if an individual transaction in that category does not have a potential for tax avoidance or evasion. The court also held that a listed transaction is one that is “presumptively (that is, more often than not) tax evasive.” Based on this, the court derived two tests for the micro-captive context. For reportable transactions, the IRS did not exceed its statutory authority if the designated micro-captive transactions “are ‘of a type’ that ‘may’ not be ‘really for insurance.’” For listed transactions, IRS did not exceed its statutory authority if the designated micro-captive transactions “are ‘presumptively’ (that is, more than half the time) ‘not really for insurance.’” On the arbitrary and capricious arguments, the court only addressed the reportable transaction regulation and concluded that the IRS appropriately “balanced the risks of overinclusive categories and proxies against the burdens of a reporting requirement.”

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“A representative group of 20 P/C insurers Moody’s rated generated net income of $69 billion in 2025, up significantly from $53.4 billion in 2024. This reflects strong underwriting performance, particularly in personal auto, and higher net investment income.” Click <a href="
https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/p-c-insurance-earnings-jump-in-2025-moodys-ratings-says" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Insurance NewsNet. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to convene in coming weeks the first of a series of meetings with domestic and international insurance regulators about recent developments in jittery private credit markets, two sources familiar with the plans told Reuters.” Click <a href="https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2026/03/30/863908.htm" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Insurance Journal. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

The White House released its <i><a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/releases/2026/03/president-donald-j-trump-unveils-national-ai-legislative-framework/" target="_child">National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence </a></i> on March 20, 2026, containing legislative recommendations for Congress to establish a unified federal approach to the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI).
The framework builds on prior executive actions and proposes that Congress adopt legislation broadly preempting state AI laws deemed to impose “undue burdens” and avoid “fifty discordant” AI laws. Under the framework, federal preemption is inappropriate for: 
• traditional state police powers retained for laws of general applicability against AI developers and users, including for the protection of children, prevention of fraud and protection of consumers;
• state zoning laws, including for the determination of the placement of AI infrastructure; and
• requirements governing a state’s own use of AI. 
The framework contemplates that federal “…preemption must ensure that State laws do not govern areas better suited to the Federal Government or act contrary to the United States’ national strategy to achieve global AI dominance” and states should not:
• be permitted to regulate AI development given its inherently interstate nature with key foreign policy and national security implications;
• unduly burden Americans’ use of AI for lawful activity if performed without AI use and
• be permitted to penalize AI developers for a third party’s unlawful conduct involving use of their AI models.
The framework raises the possibility of a McCarran-Ferguson Act showdown with state insurance laws and regulations governing how the insurance industry uses AI. In response to the threat of federal preemption, the NAIC issued its March 2026 Issue Brief: <i><a href="https://content.naic.org/insurance-topics/artificial-intelligence" target="_child">Artificial Intelligence and State Insurance Regulation, </a></i> articulating its position on AI regulation. Press Release, NAIC, Artificial Intelligence and State Insurance Regulation, (Mar. 2026). The NAIC supports state-based oversight of insurers’ use of AI and opposes federal preemption that would undermine consumer protections and the McCarran-Ferguson Act. Click <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/03.20.26-National-Policy-Framework-for-Artificial-Intelligence-Legislative-Recommendations.pdf" target="_child">here </a> to read the full National Policy Framework for Artificial Intelligence from The White House. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“Homeowners with Citizens multiperil policies will see an average rate decrease of 8.8%, while those with wind-only policies will see an average reduction of 5.5%, according to the insurer. All Citizens personal lines policyholders will receive rate decreases of at least 2% under the approved rates.” Click <a href="https://flvoicenews.com/citizens-homeowners-insurance-rates-to-drop-statewide-in-2026/" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Florida's Voice. 

Category(s): - 05/28/2026

“Florida’s Citizens Property Insurance Corporation is back in the market looking to sponsor another catastrophe bond, with an initial target to secure $450 million or more in reinsurance protection from a new Everglades Re II Ltd. (Series 2026-1), Artemis has learned.” Click <a href="https://www.artemis.bm/news/florida-citizens-targets-450m-everglades-re-ii-2026-1-catastrophe-bond-sponsorship/" target="_child">here </a> to read the full article from Artemis.