The pandemic exacerbated healthcare staffing shortages, pushing many organizations to rely on staffing agencies for help. However, this can increase the risk of claims. Because claim severity continues to be an issue, many markets have narrowed their appetite or chosen to exit the sector entirely, creating a harder insurance landscape for healthcare staffing.

In May, when a draft of the Supreme Court’s decision regarding abortion rights was leaked to the public, many companies began preemptively considering the impact on employees should the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade come to fruition (source 6). After the U.S. Supreme Court officially struck down Roe vs. Wade in June, shockwaves were felt across the country. While initial reactions have been diverse, companies around the nation are attempting to find the appropriate balance in responding to the ruling and supporting employees without wading too far into the political debate or further inflaming tensions (source 3).

After a year or two of hardening, the insurance market for senior living facilities took another hit in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s new wave of compounding challenges. Brokers working with these healthcare organizations were warned to keep a wary eye on increased liability and tighter underwriting moving into 2021 (source 1).

Healthcare is a diverse industry, ranging from individual practitioners and home health nurses, to ambulatory care centers and integrated systems with revenues in the billions of dollars. The risks along that spectrum also vary widely, but the insurance marketplace for healthcare organizations has been almost uniformly tight. Several insurance companies that underwrote healthcare business for decades have withdrawn from some classes, citing high loss ratios. In their place, new sources of capacity have emerged. Historically, the presence of new entrants has signaled competition and a loosening of terms, conditions and rates. Unfortunately for insureds, that is not happening in the current marketplace. It's a challenging environment that requires retailers to approach the renewal process differently.

While the COVID-19 pandemic offered new challenges, the healthcare market was already primed to be tough in 2021. After more than 10 years of a soft market and deteriorating results, it started to turn in the latter half of 2019. Launching into the new year, significant rate and retention increases, lower limits, and more policy movement toward claims made, was expected. However, the coronavirus amplified all of these issues, and while market adjustments were sorely needed, it remains unclear how long it will take to bring the business back to profitability.