ByAFP
May 10, 2026
Tony Dunn says his homeowners' insurance has surged almost 30 percent in cost since Hurricane Helene - Copyright AFP Peter Zay
Beiyi SEOW
After Tony Dunn lost his home in a California wildfire, he moved to mountainous North Carolina to avoid more climate disasters. But his neighborhood was devastated in a hurricane six years later — and insurance costs are climbing.
He is among a growing number of US homeowners feeling the pinch from insurance as disasters linked to climate change reach them more frequently, even away from the coast.
Dunn, 69, counts himself as lucky that his new home was not damaged in Hurricane Helene as his neighborhood was wrecked.
But that has not stopped his homeowners’ insurance premiums from surging almost 30 percent to nearly $4,400 a year since Helene in 2024.
“It was a bit of a shock when we got the insurance bill last year,” Dunn told AFP.
He worries about further increases but said: “As much as it costs, you don’t want to be without insurance.”
After he and his wife lost their home in the 2018 California Camp Fire, which claimed 85 lives, insurance payouts helped them rebuild their lives.
While coastal states like Florida have tended to face the worst of price hikes, inland areas have also seen costs rise in recent years following hail storms, wind damage and other disasters.
Climate change is enhancing conditions conducive to the most powerful hurricanes and it intensified Helene, a study by the World Weather Attribution scientists network found in 2024.
In Henderson County, where Dunn lives, homeowners paid an average of $1,979 for insurance in 2024, an 86-percent surge from 2018.
Nationally, rates skyrocketed 58 percent over the same period, according to researchers Benjamin Keys and Philip Mulder, who led a study released last year.
The hit to premiums tend to be larger in areas facing growing climate risk.
Dunn worries about people who forgo insurance coverage as costs rise.
“They’re going to have nothing,” he said. “Something needs to be done.”
– ‘A shock’ –
Inland states like Iowa and Nebraska have also seen sharp cost hikes as climate risks mount.
Rates in Nebraska jumped 20 percent between 2023 and 2025, while those of hail-prone Iowa were up 54 percent, according to Insurify.
A 2025 working paper involving researchers from Columbia Business School, Harvard Business School and others found the average US household “under-insured at mortgage origination, with only 70 percent of the rebuilding costs covered by the insurance contract.”
“We are increasingly inching towards a situation where insurers would need to charge much higher prices because climate risk is going up,” said Ishita Sen, one of the researchers behind the paper.
But households’ willingness are “not catching up,” partly due to financial constraints.
Dee Dee Buckner in Marshall, North Carolina, told AFP she has considered doing away with homeowners’ insurance.
“If they go up any higher, I can’t,” said the 60-year-old.
Buckner lost her home during Helene when the French Broad River swelled and flooded downtown Marshall with over 12 feet (3.7 meters) of water.
“There’s been rain from hurricanes that’s come in here before, but nothing of this magnitude ever. It was just a shock to everyone,” she said.
– ‘Climate epiphany’ –
Since Helene, Buckner said she could only afford a “cheap little policy” for homeowners’ insurance.
But she worries it will not cover much loss if disaster struck again.
Her flood insurance — which is separate — now costs $600 more annually and is up to more than $1,700.
Most US homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, meaning households end up buying a separate policy if they face flood risks.
Keys and Mulder said in their earlier study that reinsurance — insurers themselves buying protection against risk — has bumped up premiums as firms experienced a “climate epiphany.”
Construction cost inflation and other issues are also pushing up premiums.
But climate “is the most important structural factor,” said research economist Sarah Dickerson of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, a think tank.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents firms that write insurance policies, said it was the single biggest factor driving rate increases.
There are also indirect effects as insurers drop customers in hurricane-prone areas or withdraw from states. That could lower competition and lead to price changes too.
Dickerson calls it a “misnomer” to dub areas low-risk: “Climate-related losses are impacting all parts of the state.”
After Tony Dunn lost his home in a California wildfire, he moved to mountainous North Carolina to avoid more climate disasters. But his neighborhood was devastated in a hurricane six years later — and insurance costs are climbing.
He is among a growing number of US homeowners feeling the pinch from insurance as disasters linked to climate change reach them more frequently, even away from the coast.
Dunn, 69, counts himself as lucky that his new home was not damaged in Hurricane Helene as his neighborhood was wrecked.
But that has not stopped his homeowners’ insurance premiums from surging almost 30 percent to nearly $4,400 a year since Helene in 2024.
“It was a bit of a shock when we got the insurance bill last year,” Dunn told AFP.
He worries about further increases but said: “As much as it costs, you don’t want to be without insurance.”
After he and his wife lost their home in the 2018 California Camp Fire, which claimed 85 lives, insurance payouts helped them rebuild their lives.
While coastal states like Florida have tended to face the worst of price hikes, inland areas have also seen costs rise in recent years following hail storms, wind damage and other disasters.
Climate change is enhancing conditions conducive to the most powerful hurricanes and it intensified Helene, a study by the World Weather Attribution scientists network found in 2024.
In Henderson County, where Dunn lives, homeowners paid an average of $1,979 for insurance in 2024, an 86-percent surge from 2018.
Nationally, rates skyrocketed 58 percent over the same period, according to researchers Benjamin Keys and Philip Mulder, who led a study released last year.
The hit to premiums tend to be larger in areas facing growing climate risk.
Dunn worries about people who forgo insurance coverage as costs rise.
“They’re going to have nothing,” he said. “Something needs to be done.”
– ‘A shock’ –
Inland states like Iowa and Nebraska have also seen sharp cost hikes as climate risks mount.
Rates in Nebraska jumped 20 percent between 2023 and 2025, while those of hail-prone Iowa were up 54 percent, according to Insurify.
A 2025 working paper involving researchers from Columbia Business School, Harvard Business School and others found the average US household “under-insured at mortgage origination, with only 70 percent of the rebuilding costs covered by the insurance contract.”
“We are increasingly inching towards a situation where insurers would need to charge much higher prices because climate risk is going up,” said Ishita Sen, one of the researchers behind the paper.
But households’ willingness are “not catching up,” partly due to financial constraints.
Dee Dee Buckner in Marshall, North Carolina, told AFP she has considered doing away with homeowners’ insurance.
“If they go up any higher, I can’t,” said the 60-year-old.
Buckner lost her home during Helene when the French Broad River swelled and flooded downtown Marshall with over 12 feet (3.7 meters) of water.
“There’s been rain from hurricanes that’s come in here before, but nothing of this magnitude ever. It was just a shock to everyone,” she said.
– ‘Climate epiphany’ –
Since Helene, Buckner said she could only afford a “cheap little policy” for homeowners’ insurance.
But she worries it will not cover much loss if disaster struck again.
Her flood insurance — which is separate — now costs $600 more annually and is up to more than $1,700.
Most US homeowners insurance does not cover flood damage, meaning households end up buying a separate policy if they face flood risks.
Keys and Mulder said in their earlier study that reinsurance — insurers themselves buying protection against risk — has bumped up premiums as firms experienced a “climate epiphany.”
Construction cost inflation and other issues are also pushing up premiums.
But climate “is the most important structural factor,” said research economist Sarah Dickerson of the Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise, a think tank.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents firms that write insurance policies, said it was the single biggest factor driving rate increases.
There are also indirect effects as insurers drop customers in hurricane-prone areas or withdraw from states. That could lower competition and lead to price changes too.
Dickerson calls it a “misnomer” to dub areas low-risk: “Climate-related losses are impacting all parts of the state.”
AI is quietly denying more insurance claims
By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
May 11, 2026
Image: — © AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare administration, but not always in ways that benefit providers. AI is re-focusing many aspects of healthcare administration, in its different forms, as follows:
Scheduling and Capacity Management: AI-powered scheduling tools help balance provider availability, patient demand, and equipment capacity, leading to shorter wait times and better resource utilization.
Revenue Cycle Management: AI improves the accuracy and efficiency of revenue cycle management, which is critical for maintaining organizational stability and financial health.
Documentation and Coding: AI automates documentation and coding processes, reducing the burden on healthcare staff and allowing them to focus more on patient care.
Patient Communication: AI enhances patient communication through automated responses and real-time messaging, improving the overall patient experience.
These advancements are part of a broader trend where AI is being integrated into healthcare administration to address the challenges of rising costs, staffing shortages, and increasing regulatory demands. By leveraging AI, healthcare organizations can create more responsive systems that improve patient care and operational efficiency.
Insurance carriers are increasingly using AI systems to process and deny claims. While these systems promise efficiency and fraud detection, they are also facing legal scrutiny over allegations that algorithm-driven decisions lack nuance and fairness.
Such bias can manifest in various ways, such as underestimating the risk of certain patients or disproportionately denying coverage to protected classes. To address these issues, healthcare insurers are beginning to implement improved governance practices, including transparency, explainability, and fairness requirements. These measures aim to ensure that AI systems do not perpetuate existing biases and promote equitable access to healthcare services.
For dental and healthcare practices, the result is delayed payments, higher administrative costs, and mounting financial pressure.
Jordon Comstock, Founder and CEO of BoomCloud, tells Digital Journal that many practice owners are only just realizing how much leverage they have lost.
“Most dentists don’t see the denial pattern at first,” Comstock explains. “They just feel the cash flow tightening. What’s happening behind the scenes is that algorithms are flagging claims at scale. When that happens, practices become reactive instead of strategic.”
The Legal and Ethical Questions
Recent lawsuits against insurers argue that AI systems can produce wrongful denials by failing to account for individual patient circumstances. Plaintiffs claim that these tools may be biased or overly rigid, prioritizing cost control over patient care.
Comstock believes the bigger issue is transparency: “If an AI system denies a claim, who is accountable? Is it the adjuster? The software vendor? The carrier? Practices are left fighting a black box,” he says. “And small practices don’t have entire legal departments to challenge those decisions.”
The Financial Impact on Practices
AI-driven denials create a ripple effect, as Comstock finds:Increased time spent on appeals
Slower reimbursements
Higher overhead due to billing staff workload
Patient frustration when treatments are delayed
For many practices operating on tight margins, this can be destabilizing.
“Dentistry is already navigating staffing shortages and rising supply costs,” Comstock says. “When insurance payments become unpredictable, it exposes how fragile the traditional PPO model really is.”
A Shift Away From Insurance Dependence
Some practices are responding by reducing reliance on insurance altogether. Comstock points to internal case data from practices using membership plan models. In one example, a dental practice launched a $45 per month membership plan and enrolled more than 1,400 patients.
The results:
How Practices Can Protect Themselves Now
Comstock advises practices to take immediate steps. This runs:Strengthen documentation and compliance protocols
Understand each insurer’s denial criteria
Train staff on structured appeal processes
Evaluate direct-to-patient membership models
“Appealing claims is defensive,” he concludes. “Building recurring revenue is offensive. The practices that survive long term are the ones that stop relying entirely on third-party reimbursement.”
By Dr. Tim Sandle
DIGITAL JOURNAL
May 11, 2026
Image: — © AFP Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV
Artificial intelligence is transforming healthcare administration, but not always in ways that benefit providers. AI is re-focusing many aspects of healthcare administration, in its different forms, as follows:
Scheduling and Capacity Management: AI-powered scheduling tools help balance provider availability, patient demand, and equipment capacity, leading to shorter wait times and better resource utilization.
Revenue Cycle Management: AI improves the accuracy and efficiency of revenue cycle management, which is critical for maintaining organizational stability and financial health.
Documentation and Coding: AI automates documentation and coding processes, reducing the burden on healthcare staff and allowing them to focus more on patient care.
Patient Communication: AI enhances patient communication through automated responses and real-time messaging, improving the overall patient experience.
These advancements are part of a broader trend where AI is being integrated into healthcare administration to address the challenges of rising costs, staffing shortages, and increasing regulatory demands. By leveraging AI, healthcare organizations can create more responsive systems that improve patient care and operational efficiency.
Insurance carriers are increasingly using AI systems to process and deny claims. While these systems promise efficiency and fraud detection, they are also facing legal scrutiny over allegations that algorithm-driven decisions lack nuance and fairness.
Such bias can manifest in various ways, such as underestimating the risk of certain patients or disproportionately denying coverage to protected classes. To address these issues, healthcare insurers are beginning to implement improved governance practices, including transparency, explainability, and fairness requirements. These measures aim to ensure that AI systems do not perpetuate existing biases and promote equitable access to healthcare services.
For dental and healthcare practices, the result is delayed payments, higher administrative costs, and mounting financial pressure.
Jordon Comstock, Founder and CEO of BoomCloud, tells Digital Journal that many practice owners are only just realizing how much leverage they have lost.
“Most dentists don’t see the denial pattern at first,” Comstock explains. “They just feel the cash flow tightening. What’s happening behind the scenes is that algorithms are flagging claims at scale. When that happens, practices become reactive instead of strategic.”
The Legal and Ethical Questions
Recent lawsuits against insurers argue that AI systems can produce wrongful denials by failing to account for individual patient circumstances. Plaintiffs claim that these tools may be biased or overly rigid, prioritizing cost control over patient care.
Comstock believes the bigger issue is transparency: “If an AI system denies a claim, who is accountable? Is it the adjuster? The software vendor? The carrier? Practices are left fighting a black box,” he says. “And small practices don’t have entire legal departments to challenge those decisions.”
The Financial Impact on Practices
AI-driven denials create a ripple effect, as Comstock finds:Increased time spent on appeals
Slower reimbursements
Higher overhead due to billing staff workload
Patient frustration when treatments are delayed
For many practices operating on tight margins, this can be destabilizing.
“Dentistry is already navigating staffing shortages and rising supply costs,” Comstock says. “When insurance payments become unpredictable, it exposes how fragile the traditional PPO model really is.”
A Shift Away From Insurance Dependence
Some practices are responding by reducing reliance on insurance altogether. Comstock points to internal case data from practices using membership plan models. In one example, a dental practice launched a $45 per month membership plan and enrolled more than 1,400 patients.
The results:
Monthly recurring revenue of $63,000
Annual recurring revenue of $756,000
Predictable revenue allowed the practice to drop most PPO contracts and significantly reduce administrative burden: “The turning point for many dentists is realizing they can build their own recurring revenue system,” Comstock says. “Insurance should not be the only way patients access care.”
Annual recurring revenue of $756,000
Predictable revenue allowed the practice to drop most PPO contracts and significantly reduce administrative burden: “The turning point for many dentists is realizing they can build their own recurring revenue system,” Comstock says. “Insurance should not be the only way patients access care.”
How Practices Can Protect Themselves Now
Comstock advises practices to take immediate steps. This runs:Strengthen documentation and compliance protocols
Understand each insurer’s denial criteria
Train staff on structured appeal processes
Evaluate direct-to-patient membership models
“Appealing claims is defensive,” he concludes. “Building recurring revenue is offensive. The practices that survive long term are the ones that stop relying entirely on third-party reimbursement.”
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