An NBER working paper by Joseph S. Briggs, Ciaran Rogers and Christopher Tonetti examines demand for saving, life insurance, annuities and long-term care insurance. Its survey evidence documents perceived risk that insurers may not pay, and those beliefs predict insurance ownership. The authors incorporate the elicited beliefs and other insurance features into a structural life-cycle model. Their counterfactual results concern outcomes generated by that model. They are not observed

Michelle Yin, Hoa Vu and Claudia Persico’s NBER working paper examines the stability of occupational exposure scores produced by large language models. The April 2026 abstract reports a 3.6-fold difference in mean exposure when three models apply the same rubric to identical tasks, with agreement as low as 57%. The abstract also reports that changing the annotator changes downstream empirical estimates. The study therefore concerns measurement reliability as well

Maine’s paid family and medical leave programme provides benefits for qualifying absences occurring on or after 1 May 2026. Official programme materials describe up to 12 weeks of leave in a benefit year, subject to eligibility and other conditions. The state’s April materials explain the interaction with other leave entitlements and the administration of applications through Aflac for the public plan. They also distinguish partial wage replacement from an

Blackwell Captive Solutions announced on 20 April 2026 that it is developing a homogeneous group medical stop-loss captive for cannabis operators and growers. The proposed pool is restricted to that sector and is intended to offer an alternative to traditional fully insured employee health plans. The company describes planned availability in 24 states plus Washington, DC, where medical and recreational cannabis use are permitted, and another 16 states permitting

Captive Resources’ discussion of direct primary care describes how medical stop-loss group captives can support primary care access and prevention initiatives. It refers to a Captive.com article published on 20 April 2026 and emphasises consideration of total medical spending, rather than specific stop-loss costs alone. The provider presents captives as a possible financing environment for testing and supporting services, including near-site clinics and direct primary care. These are practitioner

The OECD’s Driving Down the Colorectal Cancer Burden: Detect, Diagnose, Deliver, published on 20 April 2026, examines detection, diagnosis and treatment. The brief highlights delays and inequalities in access. Its focus invites benefits teams to consider the whole care pathway rather than treating coverage of a screening service as the end of their review. An employer health plan cannot determine clinical eligibility or replace national recommendations. It can make

Pay Transparency in Progress: Valuing Jobs, Closing Gender Pay Gaps, published by the OECD on 17 April 2026, reviews job evaluation, pay-gap reporting, pay auditing and pre-employment salary transparency. The organisation’s third stocktake describes existing arrangements and changes expected as countries implement further measures. The anticipated expansion by the end of 2026 is an expectation stated at publication, not a substitute for checking the rules applying to a particular

Marsh’s results published on 16 April 2026 provide a detailed view of Mercer’s first quarter. Mercer Health reported revenue of $661 million, up 9% on a reported basis and 6% on an underlying basis. Wealth revenue was $752 million, up 12% reported and 5% underlying. The figures distinguish the two businesses and the effect of adjustments used in the company’s growth measures. They do not measure employers’ benefit budgets

Beyond Risk has introduced Beyond Health Partners, combining its stop-loss, captive and cost-containment capabilities within one health benefits funding platform. The provider’s resources page dates the launch announcement to 15 April 2026; the company release distributed through Business Wire carries a 16 April timestamp. The platform brings together SL Management Partners, Captive Solutions & Options and the Beyond Health captive team. The company describes a coordinated approach spanning funding

The OECD published The Health and Economic Benefits of Tackling Non-Communicable Diseases on 15 April 2026. The report considers prevention in the context of ageing populations and the burden of conditions including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. It offers a broader perspective than a programme organised around one diagnosis or one screening campaign. For benefits teams, the question is how that perspective should inform programme design. Economic estimates from

WellGuard Assurance announced on 15 April 2026 that Ron Rowe had been appointed chief executive officer. The company describes itself as a Tennessee captive-insurance organisation within the VerraCare healthcare ecosystem, working with Detego Health as its third-party administrator. Its stated aim is to give employers greater control, transparency and stability in managing healthcare costs. The company-issued announcement highlights the needs of smaller and medium-sized employers. It is evidence of

Spain published Royal Decree 316/2026 on 15 April 2026, creating exceptional residence pathways subject to specified conditions, with applications allowed until 30 June 2026. The provisions distinguish applicants for international protection from the extraordinary arraigo route. Eligibility is not established merely by being present in Spain. The text provides provisional permission to reside and work from the communication initiating processing under the relevant provision, pending a decision. This procedural

Spain’s Royal Decree 316/2026, published on 15 April 2026, revises the provision governing people holding temporary protection linked to displacement from Ukraine. It allows those holders to apply for stay and residence authorisations whose procedures can begin within Spain, following the relevant procedures. The provision includes routes under Law 14/2013. This is permission to seek another authorisation under its applicable rules. It should not be described as an automatic

On 15 April 2026, the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued its opinion in Drake Plastics v IRS. It upheld the micro-captive transactions-of-interest regulation, 26 CFR 1.6011-11, but declared the listed-transaction regulation, 26 CFR 1.6011-10, unlawful and vacated it. The court stayed that vacatur until 1 May 2026. The court found the administrative record insufficient to support the listed-transaction designation under the applicable standard. Its

Everywhen’s publication dated 14 April 2026 reports that 43% of UK companies do not have a formal health and wellbeing strategy. The finding concerns employers’ reported approach to strategy. It does not measure diagnosed illness, employee access to treatment or the effectiveness of a particular benefit. The publisher’s indexed announcement was available for this review, but the complete publication and its methodology were not retrieved. The figure should therefore

About 10.1 million working-age EU citizens reside outside their home country, with Germany hosting the most. Labor mobility is evolving, showing longer stays and broader age diversity, indicating a shift towards multi-country careers.

European Economic Area (EEA) unit-linked personal pension products generated average returns of 9.6% in 2024, according to new analysis from the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), published in Apriol 2026. The authority’s Costs and Past Performance Report examined 1,677 pension products across the EEA, revealing significant performance variations by product type and geography. Over the five-year period from 2020-2024, unit-linked personal pension products delivered annualized net returns

According to the latest estimates published in April 2026 in the OECD Main Science and Technology Indicators, research and development investment across OECD countries in 2024 maintained steady 2.6% growth (inflation-adjusted), even as government R&D budgets tightened and shifted toward defense priorities. The United States led major economies with 3.4% R&D growth, while the European Union managed just 0.4% expansion. Germany, Europe’s economic powerhouse, saw R&D spending decline by

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in April 2026 downgraded global economic projections to 2.9% growth in 2026 and 3.0% in 2027, citing energy supply disruptions from Middle East conflict as the primary drag on previously robust expansion. While the global economy entered 2026 with solid momentum from technology production and reduced US trade tariffs, energy price shocks are now creating significant headwinds. The organization warns that

The OECD’s Addressing the Costs and Care for Long COVID, published on 8 April 2026, examines healthcare needs alongside consequences for employment and the wider economy. Its projections cover 2025–2035. The report gives benefits teams a reason to examine how health coverage, disability protection and workplace support connect when symptoms persist beyond an initial infection. National projections and company experience must be distinguished. An estimated economic burden does not

Airmic’s 2026 captive survey, publicised on 2 April 2026, describes expanding use of captives beyond traditional property and casualty business. Its report says more than half of respondents are writing Employee Benefits through their captives. The survey also examines governance, reinsurance and interest in a prospective UK captive framework. These findings describe the participating Airmic membership. They are not a measure of the proportion of all captives worldwide that

AXA Health International in March 2026 announced it had partnered with Alliance Insurance Corporation Limited and MIC Global Risks to launch its Global Executive Health Plan in Tanzania, marking a strategic expansion across Africa’s growing markets. The collaboration positions AXA as the international healthcare administrator and global network provider, while MIC Global Risks serves as exclusive distributor and Alliance Insurance acts as the licensed local insurer. This structure ensures

Dayforce’s publication of 30 March 2026 reports that the US retirement saving rate fell to 8.9% in 2025, its first decline in three years. More than one in four workers reduced their individual contributions, while use of loans from retirement accounts increased. The findings draw attention to the relationship between immediate financial needs and longer-term saving. They do not establish that an individual employer’s workforce has the same experience,

Vermont’s Act 77, signed on 24 March 2026, amends the state’s captive-insurance legislation with an effective date of 1 July 2026. The changes address financial reporting, risk retention groups and the signing of reports for protected cells. Employers with Vermont structures should examine the provisions applicable to their particular legal entity. Match the requirement to the structure The legislation specifies reporting requirements for risk retention groups, including annual and

Harriet Taylor in March 2026 was appointed as the new Head of Zurich Global Employee Benefits Solutions (ZGEBS). With more than 20 years of experience at Zurich Insurance in global proposition and underwriting roles, she brings deep expertise and strong relationships across markets, customers, and partners. Harriet has been a key contributor to the global business, helping strengthen Zurich’s global employee benefits offering and supporting multinationals in delivering employee

US life and health insurance impairments fell by half in 2024, with only five companies experiencing financial distress compared to 10 in 2023, according to AM Best research published in March 2026. The sharp decline marks a significant improvement for industry stability, though recent impairments continue to stem from troubled affiliate relationships. Three of 2024’s five impairments involved a Connecticut life insurer and its two captive reinsurance subsidiaries, all

Private market exits more than doubled in value to $484 billion in 2025, signaling a dramatic but selective recovery driven by mega-deals and breakthrough sectors, according to Deloitte’s latest quarterly report published in March 2026. The growth concentrated heavily in large transactions, particularly among venture capital unicorns where median exit values jumped over 200%. Artificial intelligence led sectoral performance with exit values soaring 225% year-over-year, while the number of