Author: completebodyneeds

Program startup and transition costs vary, but even smaller programs can reach the high six or even seven figures for carriers and program administrators alike. The cost rises even further when accounting for lost growth potential when it’s necessary to transition a program. Time, effort, and the distraction of moving a program, or the lost time that may have otherwise been spent on developing other new program opportunities, leads to additional cost. Given this large investment, it is worth examining behaviors that create strong relationships and mutual success in the form of underwriting profitability and growth. Behaviors That Build Program…

Some workers’ comp carriers recognize that addressing an injured worker’s stress can speed up recovery, but not all provide a holistic approach. Integrating an employee assistance program (EAP) into a workers’ comp program supports total worker health after—and before—an injury. Workplace injuries cause stress for employees in multiple ways. There’s the physical pain of the injury and the discomfort of the recovery process. Then there’s frustration surrounding limitations on physical function. Finally, depending on the severity of the injury, there may be fear about whether a return to baseline function is even possible. An injured worker may also worry about…

A Yakima insurance agent and an unauthorized insurance company are barred from doing business in Washington after Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued cease-and-desist orders in April. Those were two enforcement actions during the first quarter in which Kuderer issued fines totaling $167,000 for insurance law violations. Kuderer’s office investigated Carol E. Perez, the licensee for Perez Insurance Inc. in Yakima, for accepting premiums from a consumer but not forwarding those payments to an insurer for a policy. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner said it revoked her license and the agency’s license after a pair of complaints and her failure…

Nearly nine-in-10 workers’ compensation treatment request denials in California were overturned by independent medical review, a new report shows. The California Department of Industrial Relations and its Division of Workers’ Compensation released the annual report on the department’s IMR program. The report summarizes IMR activity in 2025, the 13th year since the program was implemented. The report shows the organization that administers the program, Maximus Federal Services Inc., received 201,037 IMR applications and issued 152,351 final determination letters. Throughout the year, the organization issued decisions an average of six to seven days after receiving all required medical records, according to…

U.S. product recall activity remained elevated in the first quarter of 2026, a new report shows. Sedgwick’s quarterly Product Safety and Recall Index shows the volume of defective products recalled across five U.S. industries rose 27% quarter-over-quarter to 492 million units in Q1 2026. That rise is despite the number of recall events falling 10.5% to 785 in the first quarter from 877 events in Q4 2025. According to the report, the data indicate that while fewer recalls were announced overall, the scale and impact of individual events continued to intensify. Sedgwick’s report examines recall activity affecting the U.S. automotive,…

Geopolitical instability, economic uncertainty, and technological disruption are raising boardroom concerns when it comes to risk and insurance. That’s according to Worldwide Broker Network’s (WBN) “New Risk Reality Report,” which said that “resilience” has become a competitive advantage. “As organizations navigate uncertainty, risk management has never been more mission critical, yet it remains one of the most misunderstood and undervalued levers of corporate resilience,” said Olga Collins, CEO of the independent insurance broking and employee benefits network, in the report. “Having the right risk strategy can make the difference between reacting to disruption and confidently shaping the future.” Some 45%…

Karen Read has filed a lawsuit against the Massachusetts State Police and the town of Canton, alleging misconduct and negligence in the investigation that led to her prosecution in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend. The lawsuit filed last Thursday in Bristol County Superior Court argues that Read’s acquittal last June revealed “an embedded culture of bigotry, misogyny, systemic failures, and institutional rot at the very core of both organizations.” It alleges that the town and the police department were negligent in the hiring, training and supervision of officers and seeks damages for legal fees, lost income, emotional…

A California mortgage servicer is paying $4.6 million to settle allegations it violated mortgage servicing and debt collection laws during the pandemic. The settlement between Select Portfolio Servicing, a large sub-prime mortgage servicer, and California Attorney General Rob Bonta, includes enforcement of California’s Homeowner Bill of Rights, a set of laws that provide protections to homeowners who are facing foreclosure. Related: California Suing Former 23andMe Firm for 2023 Data Breach The settlement is subject to court approval. The deal means SPS must pay $1.6 million in civil penalties and $3 million in consumer relief, and must make changes to ensure…

A longtime Atlanta-area insurance agent has been indicted and arrested after allegedly keeping premium payments and issuing fake certificates of insurance. Charles Curtis Poteet IV, of Duluth, Georgia, was indicted in late May by a Gwinnett County grand jury, and was recently found and arrested in Texas, according to court records and local news reports. Atlanta News First reported that authorities began investigating after the news outlet reported complaints from business owners in 2023. Three people said that Poteet had collected premiums for a number of commercial policies, but had never secured coverage, the news site reported. Court records indicate…

The top lawyers for several states are drafting a legal challenge to Paramount Skydance Corp.’s $110 billion deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery Inc., laying the groundwork for an antitrust suit over the Hollywood mega-deal. After investigating for months whether the transaction would harm competition, senior officials in about 10 states have begun drafting a complaint and discussing logistics for filing a potential lawsuit as soon as this month to stop the merger, according to people familiar with the matter. California, which is home to the entertainment industry, has been leading the effort. No final decisions have been made about…