Insurance News Digest 12-19-2025

Innovation and investment continue to reshape life and supplemental insurance. From digital-first distribution and accelerated underwriting to major capital commitments fueling platform growth, these moves signal where efficiency and scale are heading next.

December 19, 2025

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Top 10 Articles Of The Week

The U.S. House passed a Republican-led healthcare bill focused on affordability and broader insurance options but does not extend the soon-to-expire ACA premium subsidies. The bill leans on association health plans and cost-sharing reforms, leaving subsidy concerns unresolved.

AM Best reports the U.S. property/casualty sector saw strong underwriting gains through the first nine months of 2025, helped by low catastrophe losses and higher investment income. Net income lagged due to lower realized capital gains.

This article explores how AI is shifting insurance from predictive analytics to intelligent decision-making, reshaping risk, claims, and operations. It highlights both opportunities and challenges for carriers adopting automation.

Rising flood insurance premiums have led many low-income homeowners to drop coverage. This trend is reducing NFIP participation and raising concerns about protection gaps amid growing climate risk.

Moving marijuana to Schedule III could offer tax relief and banking access for cannabis businesses. While this may improve risk profiles, federal illegality remains and brings nuanced insurance implications.

U.S. auto insurers are projecting premium increases in 2026 as inflation and claim severity escalate. Carriers are adjusting rate strategies to maintain profitability amid rising cost pressures affecting affordability and loss ratios.

Howard Hughes Holdings highlights the high margin, asset light fee stream from the AdVantage third party reinsurance capital business as a key asset after acquiring Vantage Group. Executives emphasize diversification and limited catastrophe exposure as strategic strengths.

The U.S. homeowners insurance sector is showing signs of stabilization with strong premium growth and better underwriting results. Affordability challenges and high replacement costs remain, but tech-driven risk management may help build long-term resilience.

9. Insurance M&A Landscape Dominated by Large Deals in 2025

The insurance industry saw multiple billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions in 2025, with more expected into 2026. These strategic moves reflect efforts to drive growth and reshape portfolios across P&C, life, and specialty sectors.

U.S. commercial insurance pricing increased by 3.8 percent in Q3 2025, showing continued moderation in rate growth across key lines. The slower pace suggests the commercial market may be entering a period of stabilization.

Focus Of The Week: Innovation and investment continue to reshape life and supplemental insurance.

Ethos is partnering with Aflac to offer Aflac’s supplemental health insurance products, starting with cancer coverage, through Ethos’s digital distribution platform. This collaboration expands protection options alongside Ethos’s life insurance and uses digital tools to improve accessibility.

A new Gen Re survey finds about 59 percent of U.S. individual life insurance applications now qualify for accelerated underwriting. Carriers are adopting faster workflows using automation and data to improve issuance speed and operational efficiency.

Avocet Partners has launched a new insurance investment and operating platform with $500 million in committed equity to acquire and grow life insurance and annuity businesses. The firm begins with an agreement to acquire EMC National Life and aims to scale nationally.

*See a list of our preferred publications here.