Democrats are "dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit, and instead stressing a promise to 'improve it,'" Politico  reports. "The messaging shift was circulated this afternoon on a conference ... [full story]

Soft insurance rates and the weak U.S. economy's reduction of exposure levels weighed on the largest publicly traded brokers' earnings during the first half of the year, analysts say. “Broadly speaking, things are not great,” said Meyer Shields, an ... [full story]

Reserve releases boosted first-half 2010 results for the largest U.S. property/casualty insurers, but the soft market and weak economy continue to dampen results for the industry as a whole, observers say. Prospects for the property/casualty industry are unlikely to ... [full story]