Reports suggest Apple Inc. will take its first steps into the U.S. health insurance market starting in 2024. CCS Insights speculates that Apple will partner with a major insurer, using health data the company has acquired from the Apple Watch to gain a competitive edge.

It’s normal to have fluctuations in sadness from time to time, but what’s concerning is when the sadness lingers for two or more weeks. If this is the case, someone may be experiencing depression. Depression can be defined as persistent, unshakable dark feelings.

Home insurance loss costs and frequency across all perils fell in 2021 from the year prior, but severity increased by 7%, according to the 2022 LexisNexis U.S. Home Trends Report. LexisNexis noted that insurance professionals should not be deceived by the one-year dip. The report, which analyzes data spanning seven years, shows a steady increase over time.

As employers navigate trends such as “quiet quitting”—a new term that has risen to the forefront of the employment landscape—new data reveals that many workers are “quick quitting.” That is, in certain industries, workers are quitting their jobs before the one-year mark. The emergence of this trend demonstrates that workers in the United States are getting more comfortable leaving their jobs.

Most employers are concerned about their health care costs rising in 2023. According to Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) 2022 Emerging Trends in Health Care Survey, 94% of employers reported managing health care benefits costs will be their top priority over the next two years. Employers will likely avoid shifting costs to employees because of the state of the labor market.

On Oct. 17, 2022, President Joe Biden announced the official launch of the student loan forgiveness application. Qualifying individuals can now apply for up to $20,000 in debt relief on the U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) website. The form is available in English and Spanish and provides information about the Biden administration’s debt relief program, who qualifies and how the program works.

Ransomware and business email compromise (BEC) caused the most cyber insurance claims over the past five years, accounting for 44% of about 7,000 claims examined in NetDiligence’s 2022 Cyber Claims Study. The percentage of claims attributed to these two causes of loss rose to 50% for claims reported in 2020 and 2021.

In 2022, most employers’ health care costs increased. According to recent industry data, current signs are also pointing to significantly higher health care costs in the upcoming year. Employers now face the difficult task of reigning in rising health care costs and keeping employee coverage affordable while trying to remain attractive to current and prospective talent despite their shrinking budgets.

Getting an unexpected health diagnosis can flip your world upside down. Upon receiving a serious diagnosis, you must evaluate treatment options and consider how it will affect your life, health, job and finances. On top of all that, you will also need to manage the emotional toll receiving a diagnosis may have on your well-being.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced that the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose 8.2% year over year in September 2022, remaining near a 40-year high. The increase was not anticipated by experts, who expected a slowdown as the Federal Reserve (Fed) continued to hike interest rates.

Just 19% of households in the Florida communities hardest hit by Hurricane Ian had flood insurance policies through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), according to federal data. The Category 4 hurricane made landfall on Florida’s Gulf coast on Sept. 28, with wind speeds of up to 155 mph and a storm surge of at least 12 feet.

Now more than ever, employees are looking to their employers for guidance on navigating their available benefits and how to stretch their dollars further. As such, effective open enrollment communication is critical this year. According to a Voya Financial survey, nearly one-third of American workers (31%) eligible for benefits admitted they don’t fully understand any employee benefits they selected during their most recent open enrollment period.

On Oct. 13, 2022, the U.S. Social Security Administration announced that Social Security beneficiaries can expect an 8.7% increase in benefits next year. This increase surpasses the 5.9% cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in 2022, which, at the time, was the highest in four decades. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month for beneficiaries beginning in January.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is working to help residents and families throughout much of Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina recover from the storm. Government officials have allocated over $190 million in federal disaster assistance to help the more than 127,000 households damaged by Hurricane Ian.

Despite having cause for optimism in 2021, the U.S. commercial auto insurance market shows signs of falling behind again in 2022 as losses increase, according to a new segment report from AM Best. The sector had its best year in a decade in 2021, with a combined ratio under 100, a small net underwriting loss and strong premium growth, the company noted.

Did you know that roughly 80% of medical bills contain at least one error, according to Forbes? With high patient influxes and various medical codes, it’s easy for billing mistakes to happen. This is one of the reasons it’s crucial to look over your bill thoroughly when it gets sent your way.

OSHA announced its preliminary list of the top 10 most frequently cited workplace safety standards for fiscal year 2022. Since OSHA’s fiscal year doesn’t end until Sept. 30—and this list was published prior to this date—the final results won’t be announced until the beginning of 2023. However, this preliminary list indicates the most violated safety standards for fiscal year 2022.

President Joe Biden recently issued a presidential proclamation that pardons federal convictions of simple marijuana possession offenses. The proclamation applies only to federal convictions, including District of Columbia code violations; it does not apply to convictions under state or local law. In a statement, the president also called upon governors to pardon simple state marijuana possession offenses.

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer, excluding some types of skin cancer, and the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths for adults in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Colorectal cancer occurs in the colon or the rectum, and it is often curable if the cancerous polyps are found early.

Prior authorization—also referred to as preauthorization, preapproval or precertification—is the process by which medical providers must obtain approval from a patient’s health plan or insurance before administering specific medications, treatments or procedures. This process aims to protect patient health and improve affordability by reducing unnecessary medical expenses. Both medical and prescription drug plans use prior authorizations.