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Live /The Daily Actuary · No. 241 /Sunday, August 30, 2026 /
Featured Analysis · Technology & AI

Insurance AI Patents: 61% Drew an Eligibility Rejection and Issued Anyway

By Sam Editor · August 29, 2026 · 4 min read

Section 101 reads like an existential threat to an AI patent. Across the 161 insurance AI patents granted in 2026 whose file wrappers we parsed, 61% had been rejected as ineligible before they issued. The rejection costs about three months, not the patent.

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Today's Original Analysis

7 pieces in today's edition
Career & Exams

Actuary Suspended One Year Over an OPEB Valuation: Both Errors Cut the Liability

The Academy of Actuaries suspended an actuary for one year over a retiree medical valuation using a 50% spousal participation rate against an observed 61% and a four-month drug claims average as a full-year cost. Aug 28
4 min
Technology & AIAug 28 · 5 min

The Automated Life Underwriting Patent Swiss Re Built and Sold

US Patent 12,705,675, granted August 11, 2026, claims a chained machine learning pipeline that parses in-force life policies and trips an automated underwriting trigger. Swiss Re invented it; AccuQuote holds it. ReinsuranceAug 28 · 5 min

AmCoastal's $25.5M Cat Bond Buys First-Event Retention Down to $23.5M

American Coastal placed a $25.5 million Armor Re II 2026-2 cat bond on August 1, cutting its first-event Florida named storm retention from $49 million to $23.5 million for about $8.4 million, a 33% rate on line. HealthAug 28 · 5 min

Employer GLP-1 Coverage Falls to 60% as the 2027 Trend Print Lands at 9.2%

Employer coverage of GLP-1s for obesity fell from 72% to 60% in a year and another 14% of employers drop it for 2027, against a 9.2% median cost projection. The retained pool keeps the persistent users. P&CAug 28 · 5 min

Public D&O Primary Rate Turns After Sixteen Quarters While Aon's Blended Index Falls 1.9%

Aon's Q2 2026 public D&O index fell 1.9% on cost per million while like-for-like primary renewals rose 0.6%, the first primary increase in sixteen quarters. The gap is limit buying and excess drag, not base rate. P&CAug 28 · 4 min

GEICO's Combined Ratio Hit 91.2% in Q2 2026. A Third of the Move Was Expense.

GEICO's combined ratio rose 7.7 points to 91.2% in Q2 2026, but only 4.8 of those points came from losses. The rest came from a 27.3% jump in commissions and advertising, spent into a falling auto rate level. Technology & AIAug 28 · 8 min

Insurance AI Patents: 85% Were Narrowed Before They Issued

A read of the full prosecution history behind 159 insurance AI patents granted in 2026. The claim that issues is routinely narrower than the description everyone quotes, and the file wrapper shows exactly what each carrier had to give up.
“ The Academy of Actuaries suspended an actuary for one year over a retiree medical valuation using a 50% spousal participation rate against an observed 61% and a four-month drug claims average as a full-year cost. — Sam, in today's edition

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