Insurance and professional services group Aon has launched a dedicated North America healthcare vertical within its Risk Capital division, bringing its healthcare liability reinsurance and commercial risk advisory operations together as hospitals and physician groups take on a growing share of financial risk.
The new unit brings together Aon’s reinsurance business serving insurers that cover physicians, hospitals and long-term care organisations, alongside its commercial risk advisory services for healthcare providers. Nick Gaudiosi has been appointed North America healthcare industry leader, risk capital, to oversee the combined operation.
The development reflects changes in the US healthcare market, where providers are increasingly exposed to financial risks previously carried by health plans. According to the Health Care Payment Learning & Action Network, close to 29% of US healthcare payments now involve value-based contracts, which can expose providers to losses linked to the cost and outcomes of care.
These arrangements are adding to an already challenging risk environment. Healthcare providers and their insurers are contending with rising liability costs, social inflation and larger court awards, creating interconnected exposures that can affect both sides of the insurance relationship.
Aon plans to bring its expertise across the provider and insurer markets together to help clients assess these risks and decide how best to finance them. Options include retaining exposures, transferring them through traditional insurance or reinsurance, establishing captive arrangements, or accessing alternative capital.
Gaudiosi has led Aon’s healthcare reinsurance segment as senior managing director and healthcare segment leader since 2025, helping grow its medical professional liability reinsurance team. He will retain responsibility for that strategy in his expanded role. He joined Aon in 2023 after serving as president and COO of American Healthcare Providers Insurance Services, where he oversaw the company’s sale to Curi.
Aon Risk Capital CEO Joe Peiser said, “Healthcare providers in the U.S. are becoming risk-bearing organizations, and the insurers that protect them face the same pressures. Through our Risk Capital structure, Aon is uniquely positioned to help connect both providers and insurers with the right capital, in the right structure, at the right time.”
Aon North America healthcare industry leader, risk capital Nick Gaudiosi added, “The risks carried by health systems and by the insurers that protect physicians and hospitals are increasingly linked. Bringing our reinsurance and commercial risk expertise together gives clients one integrated view of that risk and a clear strategy for financing it.”
The launch gives Aon a structure through which to address the changing relationship between healthcare providers and the insurers covering them. By combining reinsurance and commercial risk advice, the firm aims to help clients understand connected exposures and select appropriate ways to manage and transfer them.
For insurers and healthcare organisations, the shift towards value-based care is changing where financial risk sits. Aon’s new vertical is designed to address that convergence through a more integrated approach to risk assessment and capital solutions.
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