Taylor Pushes Much Needed Insurance Reform

Mississippi Congressman Gene Taylor, one of the most decent, honest, articulate and courageous elected officials in the U.S., continues the fight against BIG insurance. Taylor is a Democrat who consistently wins landslide re-elections in one of the nation's most conservative districts. When George W. Bush attempted to give Social Security to Wall Street, Taylor was one of the most eloquent voices of opposition, and he has been steadfast in his opposition to W's failed approach to Iraq. The Democrat nominee for President in 08 would be wise to strongly consider Taylor as a VP running mate.

This from the Biloxi Sun Herald:

For Congressman Gene Taylor, a national all-perils insurance program is . . . A VISION TO MATCH THE VIEW No community can survive without access to affordable property insurance. That is why Rep. Gene Taylor, D-Miss., has dedicated himself to helping establish a national all-perils insurance program. The lack of access to affordable insurance has reached crisis proportions in South Mississippi since Hurricane Katrina. But, as Taylor told the Sun Herald on Friday, the situation is now spreading down the Atlantic seaboard, from Connecticut to the Carolinas to Florida. Taylor's solution is to expand the National Flood Insurance Program to cover all natural disasters and, initially, make it available to property owners along the Gulf and Atlantic shorelines. "It has to happen," says Taylor. If other regions of the nation choose to join the program - to better insure themselves against earthquakes or other natural calamities - then Taylor says they should be welcomed into the program. But initially, Taylor simply wants to safeguard residents on or near the nation's shorelines, where more than half of all Americans live. "If you ask for too much, you usually wind up with too little," Taylor said of congressional proposals. Taylor believes he has a natural - and powerful - ally in Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss. Both lost their homes to Hurricane Katrina. Both have chosen to sue their private insurers over the handling - or mishandling - of their claims. Both understand the need to reform the insurance industry. "We know it to be true because we've been through it," Taylor said of the horror stories he and Lott have heard from constituents about their insurance claims. Taylor will continue to advance his reform agenda at congressional hearings this month and next. His testimony will carry the added credibility of his having chaired the Hurricane Katrina Task Force last year. In October, that task force (on which Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., served as vice-chairman) made its recommendations to Congress, including these three: 1. Repeal the federal antitrust exemption as it relates to price-fixing, bid-rigging, or market allocation in the market for property insurance. The Katrina Task Force seeks to prohibit commercial insurers in the market for property insurance from any form of price-fixing, bid-rigging, or market allocation. It seeks to prohibit insurers in the market for property insurance from engaging in concerted activity to deny compensation to policyholders through restrictive and unwarranted interpretations of policies. It also seeks to prohibit concerted activity by insurers in the market for property insurance to limit the scope of policies and compensation. 2. Establish all-perils disaster insurance coverage backed by the federal government. The segmented insurance market leaves gaps in coverage that result in widespread uninsured losses from natural catastrophes, especially from flooding, earthquakes, and other perils commonly excluded by private property insurance. Private insurers can shift responsibility for hurricane losses to property owners, the National Flood Insurance Program and relief programs by attributing damages to water rather than wind. Any effort to provide a federal backstop for insurance losses should insist on elimination of the exclusions and gaps in coverage. Rather than providing relief aid after the fact, the federal government should establish a reinsurance program that assesses the cost of catastrophic risks and collects premiums before such events occur. The program would provide reinsurance to the all-perils insurance coverage and would be triggered by large-scale natural catastrophes. The federal program should encourage state efforts to provide catastrophe insurance programs by providing reinsurance for state insurance funds. When states are stakeholders in insurance risk, they have incentives to implement and enforce zoning codes, building standards, and mitigation efforts to minimize disaster losses. 3. Establish stronger federal oversight of property insurance practices. Congress should establish federal authority to conduct oversight of property insurance practices. When insurance companies stop issuing policies in New York because of claims in Mississippi and Louisiana, the industry cannot reasonably claim that property insurance is not interstate commerce. The government has assumed responsibility for insuring risks that the insurance industry refuses to cover, such as flooding. The federal government also provides disaster assistance to offset the uncovered losses of individuals, businesses, and communities. Since federal taxpayers are forced to fill the gaps left by property insurance, Congress and the federal government have an obligation to perform diligent oversight of the industry. All three of these recommendations deserve the attention and action of Congress. The consequences of Katrina are being felt in the pocketbooks of consumers far beyond the reach of the hurricane's winds or storm surge. The same will be true of the next catastrophic storm to come out of the Gulf or the Atlantic. Nothing can be done to calm the winds or turn back the surge of a hurricane. But much can and should be done to help people bounce back from the ravages of nature.