Mayor of Lisbon (CML) Carlos Moedas has reacted to statements made by Fidelidade, Carris’s insurer, in compensation proceedings involving the family of one of the victims of the Glória funicular
The post “Shameful”: Mayor criticises insurer’s description of Glória funicular being “unreliable” appeared first on Portugal Resident.
The European Commission has proposed a new climate resilience law that would require EU governments to assess their exposure to extreme weather, identify authorities responsible for managing risks and develop national plans to protect infrastructure and economic activity.
Presented on 27 October, the initiative marks a shift in European climate policy towards managing the consequences of changing weather conditions alongside efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
However, the Commission estimates that adapting Europe’s infrastructure and economy to future climatic conditions will require approximately €70 billion annually.
The proposed legislation does not establish a dedicated funding programme of that size.
This creates an immediate question for member states already facing difficult decisions over defence expenditure, energy security and public borrowing.
Brussels wants governments to make climate preparedness a routine part of economic planning, but the financial responsibility for delivering those measures remains largely unresolved.
Under the Commission’s proposed Climate Resilience Law, EU governments would be required to conduct more systematic assessments of climate risks.
The proposal envisages national assessments by 30 June 2029 and strategic resilience plans by 31 December 2030.
These documents would identify threats affecting infrastructure, public services, economic activity and communities.
Governments would also be expected to specify which public authorities are responsible for managing particular risks.
The intention is to prevent situations in which responsibility is divided between institutions without a clear mechanism for action.
The proposed framework would establish a common basis for assessments across the EU, allowing national authorities to compare risks and coordinate responses.
This could be particularly relevant where droughts, floods or disruptions to energy networks affect more than one member state.
The deadlines remain proposals rather than existing legal obligations. The legislation must still be negotiated and adopted by the European Parliament and the Council.
One of the most significant elements of the proposal is the introduction of a shared reference trajectory for global warming.
According to the Commission’s announcement, the framework uses a trajectory involving global average warming of approximately 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by 2030, 2°C by 2050 and 3°C by 2100.
These figures would provide a common planning assumption for evaluating long-term risks.
They are not legally determined temperature outcomes or a guarantee that warming will follow precisely that path.
Instead, they are intended to help authorities examine how buildings, roads, energy facilities and other infrastructure might perform under changing climatic conditions.
For example, a transport project designed to operate for several decades would need to consider possible exposure to extreme heat, flooding or changes in rainfall patterns.
Such assessments could influence engineering requirements, maintenance costs and investment decisions.
The Commission estimates that approximately €70 billion a year will be needed to strengthen Europe’s climate resilience.
That expenditure could include flood protection, water management, urban cooling, agricultural adaptation and improvements to vulnerable infrastructure.
The Commission argues that preventive investment can reduce the economic losses associated with disasters.
According to its figures, climate-related damage across the EU amounted to approximately €200 billion between 2022 and 2025, averaging €50 billion annually.
However, estimating the economic benefits of prevention does not resolve how projects should be financed.
National governments face competing demands on their budgets, while local authorities often bear responsibility for infrastructure without possessing sufficient resources for major investment programmes.
Private financing may contribute in commercially viable areas, but some adaptation projects generate public benefits rather than direct financial returns.
Flood barriers, emergency drainage systems and measures protecting vulnerable communities may therefore require substantial public expenditure.
The proposed legislation establishes a framework for identifying such investments but does not guarantee the resources necessary to undertake them.
The Commission also wants climate resilience to become part of business and financial decision-making.
Companies operating transport networks, energy facilities and industrial sites may face increasing exposure to disruption from extreme weather.
Insurers must assess the potential for more frequent or costly claims.
Banks and investors may need to consider whether assets remain commercially viable under changing environmental conditions.
These issues have implications for credit conditions, property values and long-term investment.
However, incorporating climate risks into financial decisions can create difficulties for regions where exposure is high and adaptation costs are substantial.
Insurance premiums may rise, while some properties or economic activities could become increasingly difficult to insure.
The Commission has indicated that further proposals concerning climate insurance and disaster preparedness are being developed.
Their eventual design will influence how financial risks are distributed between households, businesses, insurers and governments.
The framework also introduces instruments intended to improve access to scientific information.
The European Climate Viewer will provide mapped information on projected climate hazards.
The Navigator of Climate Resilience Tools will help authorities and businesses identify relevant assessment instruments.
A separate Solutions Explorer will provide examples of adaptation measures developed through European research programmes.
These tools could make climate information more accessible, particularly for smaller administrations without extensive technical resources.
Nevertheless, access to information does not automatically produce the financing or institutional capacity required to implement projects.
A municipality may be able to identify a flood risk more precisely while remaining unable to finance the necessary protective infrastructure.
The Commission is expected to present an additional EU strategic plan on climate resilience in 2028.
Separate initiatives are also being prepared on heatwaves, insurance and disaster preparedness.
The resulting framework could substantially influence how public infrastructure and investment projects are planned across Europe.
However, national governments will have to determine how the proposed requirements interact with existing spending obligations and economic priorities.
The European Parliament and Council must also decide whether the legislation should include stronger financial provisions.
The central issue is not whether governments should assess the risks facing infrastructure and public services, but how the measures identified by those assessments will be funded.
Until that question is addressed, the proposed law will establish a more comprehensive system for recognising climate-related risks without guaranteeing that member states possess the resources to reduce them.
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Albertsons is curbing health care benefits for employees due to rising healthcare costs.
Starting next year, the grocery giant will no longer offer medical insurance plans to employees' spouses and domestic partners who have jobs that provide such coverage. The grocery giant detailed the change in an open enrollment guide posted to its website.
Albertsons said it expects its healthcare costs to increase 9.5% next year due to inflation, higher prescription drug costs, provider consolidation, and shortages in the healthcare workforce.
"Like employers across the country, Albertsons Companies continues to navigate rising health care costs while working to provide associates with access to quality, competitive benefits," a spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider.
The spokesperson also said spouses and partners who don't have access to employer-based coverage will remain eligible for coverage on applicable health plans.
Other changes this year include higher weekly paycheck contributions from employees, the elimination of two network plans, along with higher deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums for some other plans.
Large companies Disney, Starbucks, and Deloitte have also introduced cost-saving changes to their benefits packages for 2027. Disney is also dropping coverage for partners and spouses who can get insurance from their own jobs.
"We've seen employers reducing their contribution toward the spouse's coverage, but not eliminating the coverage option for those people," Capitol Benefits CEO Joshua Lavine told Business Insider in August, regarding Disney's decision.
Courtesy of Ben Hagopian.
I've spent more than a decade navigating the labyrinth of American healthcare. I've worn the white coat, spent sleepless nights on call, signed the charts, and cared for thousands of patients.
A few years ago, I realized I couldn't keep participating in a system that felt like it was designed to fail the very people it was meant to serve.
Today, my family and I are uninsured in the traditional sense — and I'm confident that it's the best financial and medical decision I've ever made.
For years, I worked in a traditional, insurance-based primary care practice. My days were a blur of 15-minute appointments, dictated not by medical necessity, but by billing codes and insurance reimbursements. I felt completely beholden to the behemoth of corporate medicine. Patients were waiting months to see me and were almost always shortchanged on the time I was able to spend with them.
I felt like the insurance companies were the invisible third party in every exam room, deciding which tests I could order and which medications my patients deserved. I wasn't just a doctor anymore; I was a data-entry clerk for multibillion-dollar payers. The result was a total, soul-crushing burnout that followed me home every night.
On the other side of it, some of my patients were forgoing necessary care because the costs presented to them were simply too high. Did it make sense to spend $300 to check a thyroid test to ensure the $10 per month medication I prescribed was working as it was supposed to? Many patients, rightfully so, decided to spend their money elsewhere.
I knew I had to get out — not just for my own sanity, but to actually provide the type of care I believed in.
I eventually traded the treadmill for Direct Primary Care (DPC). In this model, my patients (or their employers or an insurance company) pay a flat monthly membership fee directly to me (around $100 per month). This type of care is affordable— my current patient panel includes attorneys, electricians, teachers, and retirees. There are no co-pays, no deductibles, and most importantly, no insurance companies breathing down my neck.
The difference was night and day. Without the administrative bloat of insurance billing, I finally became the doctor I trained to be:
Once I saw how much better medicine functioned without traditional insurance interference, I took the ultimate leap. I took my wife and children, now 9 and 6, off our health insurance plan.
Instead, we joined a medical cost-sharing community. It isn't insurance; it's a community of members who share each other's large, unexpected medical expenses. When I combined a DPC membership for our routine care with a health share for the big stuff, I realized I had found a better way to protect my family — and was paying far, far less for it.
To understand why we left, look at the cost of childbirth. When our first child was born under a supposedly high-end traditional insurance plan, we still walked away owing about $10,000 after paying our insurance premiums. We were paying twice: once for the premium and again for the actual care.
My wife spent hours of her precious maternity leave arguing with insurance companies about the services we received in the hospital. When our infant son was hospitalized a few months later, she was back on the phone again, having to advocate for his coverage during the time of a family crisis. We spent years paying off the cost of the birth and his illness.
With our second child, we looked at the numbers through the lens of a cost-share program. On a plan like ours, the Initial Unshareable Amount (IUA) — the part we pay before the community kicks in — was only $1,500.
Beyond that $1,500, the community shared the rest. We didn't have to spend my wife's recovery time fighting with a claims adjuster or waiting for pre-authorizations. We knew exactly what our responsibility was, and more importantly, we knew our family was covered by a community, not a corporation.
As a physician, I've seen the insurance trap from both sides. We've been conditioned to believe that without a blue or green plastic card in our wallets, we are unsafe.
The reality is that for some, traditional insurance has become a barrier to care rather than a bridge. By opting out and pairing Direct Primary Care with a health share, I've reclaimed my time as a doctor and my peace of mind as a father. I'm no longer waiting for an insurance company to tell me how to care for my kids or my patients. As a doctor and as a father, for the first time in my career, I feel truly secure.
PR Newswire
Corgi launched as an insurance startup, but it's been rapidly expanding into new businesses like thematic ETFs and 24/7 cafe/coworking spaces.
A job filing posted this month suggests it's now eyeing M&A investment banking.
The company, valued at $5 billion, is hiring for a "Managing Director, Investment Banking" role, according to the posting. It says the company is "seeking experienced Managing Directors with established client relationships, deep sector expertise, and a proven track record of originating and closing transactions."
The company says it's seeking someone with more than five years of experience. Unlike traditional investment banking jobs, which typically pair a hefty base salary with performance-based compensation, this job is "commission only, with no base salary."
"Payouts are tied to collected transaction fees, with terms based on origination and execution responsibilities and agreed upon before joining," the listing says.
Investment banking managing directors across the industry made a median of $1.1 million a year in 2025, according to Prospect Rock Partners, and in previous years, bonuses made up more than two-thirds of total compensation.
A commission-only contract could be seen as a hard sell for your average banker, but Corgi's prolific fundraising — $266 million this year and $431 million in total since its 2014 launch — and its vision of "building an AI financial infrastructure company" may be attractive to an ambitious young banker.
The company did not respond to a request for comment about its plans or the job posting.
Corgi was founded by Emily Yuan and Nico Laqua in 2024, offering a range of insurance products for startups. Its recently opened cafés are positioned as a marketing tool for startup founders.
While an investment banking platform may seem to be an odd choice for an insurer, it is a clue that this is part of the firm's vision to serve startups by helping them sell their businesses.
The posting said candidates should have relationships with "founders, sponsors, and referral partners" — in other words, those who can connect startup founders with private equity investors that could buy their companies.
Climate change is making your home uninsurable! That's the headline, but look behind it and you find a press release by a PR outfit touting some very dubious claims about floods and finance, says Tilak Doshi.
The post No, Climate Change is Not Making Your Home “Uninsurable” appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.
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