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Missouri Releases Workers’ Comp Rates for 2027

Article 0 Comments The Missouri Department of Commerce and Insurance (DCI) announced the release of workers’ compensation rates for employers for 2027. The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) has proposed rate-neutral loss costs at 0%, keeping average rates steady for Missouri businesses. The stable rate environment is driven primarily by a sustained decline in claims frequency across the state. The NCCI’s 2027 loss cost filing and the department’s independent actuarial review are available on DCI’s website. Proposed average changes in loss costs by industry group are below: Manufacturing: +1.2% Contracting: -2.0% Office & Clerical: -1.2% Goods & Services: -0.2% Miscellaneous: +1.3% Topics Workers’ Compensation Missouri Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Submit No Thanks Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Submit No Thanks Here are more articles you may enjoy. Interested in Workers Comp? Get automatic alerts for this topic.

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South Dakota Aquifers in Decline, Threatening Fresh Water Supplies

Article 0 Comments Geologists and hydrologists can use scientific charts and graphs to understand the increasing water challenges facing South Dakota, but it only takes a brief visit to Bear Butte State Park near Sturgis for a non-scientist to see the outcome of decreasing water levels. The lake that forms the centerpiece of the state park is usually a 215-acre expanse of fresh water that extends 15 feet deep and is home to walleye, crappie and catfish as well as an array of waterfowl and wildlife. But this year, as lingering drought has combined with falling levels in underground aquifers, the lake is nearly gone. Only a small strip of surface water remains, with depths measured in inches instead of feet. A popular fishing pier is surrounded by hundreds of yards of baked-out lakebed and dried up vegetation. For the past several years in South Dakota, the combined effects of rising population, long-range drought and increased residential, commercial and agricultural water use are causing water shortages across the state. Scientific readings show that many underground aquifers are drier than normal or seeing reduced water pressure caused by lower volumes. But the naked eye can also see the outcomes. Water level...

Only 13% of CIOs Say Their Enterprise Has Realized Significant or Transformational Value from AI: Gartner Survey 0

Only 13% of CIOs Say Their Enterprise Has Realized Significant or Transformational Value from AI: Gartner Survey

CIOs Must Strive to be Vanguards, a Cohort That Delivers Better Business Outcomes While Also Reporting High CEO-Perceived AI Value Stamford, CT (Oct. 26, 2026) – Only 13% of CIOs reported their enterprise has realized significant or transformational value from AI so far according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company. While AI use cases have accelerated over the past two years, the likelihood of use case success remains one in five. Speaking at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, Alicia Mullery, VP Analyst at Gartner, said, “Volume is not value. AI is creating a reckoning for organizations that lack fundamental disciplines, such as defining use-case value ahead of time and establishing criteria for when to walk away.” The Gartner 2027 CIO and Technology Executive Agenda survey of 2,002 CIOs and technology executives from May to July 2026 found that vanguards, defined as CIOs who are delivering better performance on business outcomes while also reporting high CEO-perceived AI value, are more likely to establish stopping rules at two points in the lifecycle: pilots and production. Defining these guidelines becomes essential as organizations rapidly transition from initial experimentation to active deployment across GenAI, traditional AI and AI agents. Organizations with guidelines for determining...

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Trump Says More FEMA Aid is Coming to Texas After 2026 Floods

Article 1 Comment President Donald Trump pledged to provide more federal aid to Texas flood victims after the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied the state’s initial request to help individuals recovering from widespread floods in July. The flooding swept through portions of southwest Texas and the Hill Country, which was still building back from another deadly flash flood a year earlier. While FEMA had approved assistance for some counties to cover infrastructure repair costs, individuals were left to rely on limited nonprofit funds and their own money to recover. Nim Kidd, chief of the Texas Division of Emergency Management, formally appealed FEMA’s denial of individual assistance Tuesday, the same day Trump promised to open up more recovery funds at a Republican campaign rally in Corpus Christi. “We’ll work that out on Monday,” Trump said in his remarks. The president said he made the decision at the request of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running for the other U.S. Senate seat in Texas and appeared on stage with Trump. Kidd asked FEMA to reconsider its denial for 20 of 30 counties where individuals needed aid, including Kerr and Uvalde. Kidd also appealed the agency’s...

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Snap Finalizing Settlement to Avoid LA Trial on Addiction Claims

Article 0 Comments Snap Inc. is finalizing a settlement in a lawsuit filed by two teenagers who say years of compulsive scrolling and posting on the company’s photo-sharing app contributed to their mental health struggles, according to attorneys for the plaintiffs. The agreement, reached partway through jury selection in Los Angeles, would enable the company to avoid the next high-profile social media addiction trial. The case in California state court was set to be the latest test of thousands of such lawsuits. The teenagers previously reached confidential settlements with Meta Platforms Inc., TikTok and Google’s YouTube. “Our ultimate goal is to hold these social media companies accountable for how their actions have impacted millions of children across the country, and these settlements allow us to keep building toward that goal,” John Morgan and Emily Jeffcott, attorneys for one of the teens, said in a statement announcing the agreement. Terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed. Related: As AI Laws Proliferate, Liability and Coverage Questions Multiply The two cases, which were combined by the judge, would have been the second to go to trial among thousands of lawsuits filed by young users and their family members accusing the social media companies of...

Total Loss Auto Claims Weigh on Insurance Customer Satisfaction 0

Total Loss Auto Claims Weigh on Insurance Customer Satisfaction

Amica Ranks Highest in Customer Satisfaction in JD Power Auto Claims Study Customer satisfaction is improving for repairable claims as repair shop backlogs ease and cycle times improve 26% of auto insurance claims are total losses, creating a drag on customer satisfaction Among total loss claimants with loans on their vehicles, 25% receive payouts that are less than they currently owe Troy, MI (Oct. 27, 2026) – How satisfied are auto insurance customers in that moment of truth when they need to file a claim? According to the JD Power 2026 U.S. Auto Claims Satisfaction StudySM, that depends on whether the damage is repairable or not. This year, overall customer satisfaction with the auto insurance claims process improves 4 points (on a 1,000-point scale) when damages are repairable but declines 12 points when vehicles are deemed a total loss, marking a third consecutive year of declining satisfaction for total loss claims. Overall, 26% of auto insurance claims were classified as total losses in 2026, up from just 16% four years ago as vehicle repairs become more costly, more customers keep their vehicles on the road longer and higher deductibles remove smaller repairs from the claim process. “A complex mix of...

Manulife and UpLink announce winners of the ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage’ Challenge 0

Manulife and UpLink announce winners of the ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage’ Challenge

Ten innovators selected for solutions that help Canadians live longer, healthier, more financially secure lives Manulife also launched a new approach to rewards, rooted in health, wealth and longevity, with new Visa Infinite® and Visa Platinum® cards Toronto, ON (Oct. 13, 2026) – Manulife, in collaboration with UpLink, the World Economic Forum’s early-stage innovation initiative, is pleased to announce the winners of the ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage Challenge,’ the third and final challenge in a multi-year partnership focused on advancing longevity innovation. Open to innovators from Canada and around the world, the challenge sought practical, near-term solutions that can improve health, financial resilience and social connectedness for Canadians while fostering purpose and opportunity across generations. As Canadians live longeri and more multi-stage lives, new solutions are needed to help people thrive across those additional years through better health, stronger financial resilience, meaningful social connection and a greater sense of purpose. The winning cohort showcases innovative approaches to helping Canadians navigate longer lives while supporting caregivers, families and communities. The 10 winners of the ‘Shaping Canada’s Longevity Advantage Challenge’ are: Amical (Quebec City, QC), which delivers an AI-powered companion through a familiar telephone interface to support older adults and people living with...

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Binance Restarts Withdrawals as Questions Linger on Record Hack

Article 0 Comments Binance began restoring customer withdrawals Sunday after hackers drained over $6 billion in the biggest cyber theft ever recorded, as the crypto industry awaits answers on the breach blamed on North Korea and steps to strengthen the exchange’s defenses. The world’s largest digital-asset platform reopened Bitcoin withdrawals after 2 p.m. Singapore time, more than two days after halting them following the breach. By evening in Asia, the exchange had seen some $3.5 billion in net outflows, according to DefiLlama data. Co-Chief Executive Officer Yi He said on X some transfers are between Binance wallets. The first phase of withdrawals covers 15 tokens, including Ether and the two biggest stablecoins, Tether’s USDT and Circle Internet Group Inc.’s USDC, Binance said on X. Withdrawals on 15 blockchain networks including Ethereum, BNB Smart Chain, XRP and Base resumed by around 8:30 p.m. in Singapore, according to the company. Read more: Binance’s $6.3 Billion Hack: How Crypto Insurance Works Binance dwarfs its industry rivals, with roughly $132 billion in assets, compared with about $29 billion at the second-largest exchange OKX. “We are taking a phased approach by prioritizing tokens based on the past week data of user demand, so that each...

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Binance’s $6.3 Billion Hack: How Crypto Insurance Works

Article 2 Comments Hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance in the world’s biggest crypto heist, putting a spotlight on how cryptocurrency exchanges insure their digital assets against theft and cyberattacks. But insurance protection is far from uniform. Coverage depends on how assets are stored, how hackers gain access and the specific terms of the policy. Limited regulation and volatile crypto prices have long made insurers wary of the sector, despite growing demand for protection against digital asset theft and claims against company executives. Read more: Binance Estimates $6.3 Billion Hacked in Crypto’s Biggest-Ever Heist While both crime and demand for protection have tracked cryptocurrencies’ meteoric rise, underwriting such risks remains a niche business offered largely by specialist insurers in the Lloyd’s market and in Bermuda. WHAT IS DIGITAL ASSET INSURANCE? Digital asset insurance is a range of policies designed to protect cryptocurrency exchanges, custodians and other companies operating in the sector against financial losses arising from the theft of digital assets, cyberattacks, technology failures and other business risks. Unlike traditional insurance, these policies are tailored to risks associated with blockchain technology, including the theft or loss of private keys, wallet security breaches, smart contract vulnerabilities and failures in digital asset...

AI Risk is Rising Faster Than AI Value: Gartner 0

AI Risk is Rising Faster Than AI Value: Gartner

Three Tactics CIOs Can Use to Deliberately Manage AI Value and Risk Stamford, CT (Oct. 19, 2026) – Despite the rapid risks introduced by AI, CIOs remain well-positioned to effectively manage AI governance and deliver business value, according to Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company. During the opening keynote of Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, Gartner analysts told the audience of over 7,500 CIOs and IT executives that value and risk are interconnected, and the challenge for CIOs is to compound value faster than risk. “People are doing more with AI than ever before, and 58% of leaders said they are seeing some positive value from their AI initiatives, according to a Q2 2026 Gartner survey of over 1,000 functional leaders,” said Daryl Plummer, VP, Distinguished Analyst and Gartner Fellow. ”While many organizations are seeing pockets of AI success, they are struggling to consistently replicate and scale that value across the enterprise.” At the same time, AI risk continues to accelerate. CIOs and IT leaders report to Gartner that AI risk is growing faster than AI value in their organizations. “However, the value-potential is high. The new CIO imperative is to align value with risk and align safety with governance,”...