Voluntary Benefits

North Carolina's largest health insurer says the federal health insurance overhaul law kicking in next year will mean higher costs for about a third of its customers who pay for their own coverage and lower or stable prices for about two-thirds.

Shares of ING U.S. Inc. rose slightly in their first day of trading following the company's $1.3 billion initial public offering.

Marsh & McLennan Cos. said Thursday its first-quarter net income rose 19 percent, helped by better results at its risk and insurance services business.

Prudential Financial Inc. posted a first-quarter loss as the life insurer took a hefty charge tied to the value of the Japanese yen, but its adjusted earnings topped market expectations.

American International Group said Thursday that its first-quarter net income fell 31 percent from a year earlier, when the insurer benefited from $3.3 billion in investment income.

While crisis management has seemed to become the new business-as-usual for the world, the newest elements are blatant attempts by our leaders and the media to stampede us. They want us to panic. While panic might serve their purposes (political backlash and selling papers, respectively), its rarely good for the...