Friday, July 30, 2010
| Make Florida More Hurricane-Resistant
published: Sep 28, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer and John Hallman
As hurricane-ridden September passes by, much of the news in Florida appears good: Hurricanes, so far, have stayed away from U.S. coastlines, the Legislature has passed a few common-sense reforms to the state's property insurance system and state CFO Alex Sink says that the state's troubled Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (Cat Fund) has gained a firmer fiscal footing. more... |
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| A catastrophe waiting to happen
published: Sep 15, 2009
by: Jonathan Orszag
This month marks the fourth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. That raises a simple question: Are we prepared as a Nation for the next mega-catastrophe (one, perhaps, worse than Katrina) that will inevitably strike our country? more... |
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| The Meltdown Next Time: The financial danger nobody knows about.
published: Sep 12, 2009
by: Eli Lehrer
When the insurance giant American International Group was threatened with collapse in late 2008, its credit default swap business and other international operations were cited as the heart of its troubles. But the largest consequence of AIG's uncontrolled failure on consumers' pocketbooks could have come from the domino-like collapse of its businesses writing insurance on boats, cars, homes, lives, and just about everything else. If these businesses fell apart as a result of AIG's overall collapse, the argument went, the contagion could have brought a collapse of everything from retirement savings plans to auto insurance claims payments from companies unconnected to AIG. (In theory, the operations were firewalled from AIG's other operations, but the extremely slow rate at which they've found buyers indicates that many had significant exposure to the company's other woes.) more... |
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CEI Responds to McCarty’s Statements on SB 2036 |
by: Eli Lehrer, Senior Fellow, CEI
published: Apr 28, 2009
The director of The Competitive Enterprise Institute's insurance project responded today to Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) head Kevin McCarty's statements about SB 2036 and HB 1171. Eli Lehrer, the head of the free market think tank's insurance project, said that he agreed with certain parts of McCarty's statements and disagreed with others. The bills allow large, financially stable insurers to write policies without being batted down for charging ''excessive'' rates.
''Yes, some companies will increase their prices if these proposals become law,'' says Lehrer. ''But insurance is about more than price and consumers who want to pay more to stick with a company they know should certainly be able to do that. The products that OIR approves right now carry with them a massive amount of 'pay later' rate increases in the form of special assessments. Many smart customers will want to buy more expensive policies up front rather than having to pay through the nose as soon as a major storm hits.''
Lehrer adds, however, that he feels the proposals are insufficient on their own. ''I can't see a real downside to doing this. It will preserve consumer choice, and increase market competition. Those who don't like what this bill offers don't have to partake in it,'' says Lehrer. He adds, however, that simply allowing another type of competition isn't sufficient: ''Really changing things is going to require fundamental reforms to Florida's rate regulation system, Citizens, and the Cat Fund,'' he says.
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