Back to all bills
HR 4504119th CongressIn Committee
INSURE Act
Introduced: Jul 17, 2025
Sponsor: Rep. Kamlager-Dove, Sydney [D-CA-37] (D-California)
Healthcare
Standard Summary
Comprehensive overview in 1-2 paragraphs
The INSURE Act would create a federal catastrophe property reinsurance program overseen by the Secretary of the Treasury. Its core idea is to provide reinsurance backing to participating primary property insurers for specified catastrophe perils ( phased in over several years), with premiums, loss prevention requirements, and data collection designed to reduce insured losses and stabilize insurance markets. A new Federal Catastrophe Reinsurance Fund would hold premiums and, if necessary, issue US-guaranteed notes or bonds to meet obligations. The bill also sets up an advisory committee, data-sharing provisions with federal and state entities, feasibility studies on relocating uninsurable properties and on adding earthquakes, and a pilot for multi-year all-perils policies to test longer-term pricing and risk management. The long-term goal is to lower catastrophe costs for insurers, encourage risk reduction, and promote a more stable private reinsurance market, potentially including private mechanisms like catastrophe bonds.
Key Points
- 1Establishment of a Federal Catastrophe Reinsurance Fund and a Department of the Treasury–run catastrophic property loss reinsurance program to support participating primary insurers.
- 2Gradual phase-in of covered perils: wind/hurricane by year 4 after enactment, severe convective storms and wildfires by year 5, floods by year 6, and earthquakes by early year 8 or after a feasibility report.
- 3Eligibility and requirements for participating insurers: must offer all-perils property policies (residential or commercial) and must have a loss prevention partnership with policyholders to reduce catastrophe losses.
- 4Financial mechanics: insurers pay quarterly premiums; premiums are based on expected losses, admin costs, and trend factors, with a minimum premium of at least 50% of losses plus admin costs. Premiums can rise, but not by more than 7% per year (absent adjustments for exposure changes).
- 5Payment thresholds and governance: a financial threshold (up to 40% of an insurer’s probable maximum loss per peril) determines when the Fund pays out; an advisory committee helps set thresholds and other program rules.
- 6Loss prevention partnerships: defined activities that qualify for program consideration, with exclusions for discounts solely tied to insured investments or generic loss-prevention information.
- 7Advisory Committee: a broad group including consumer advocates, insurers (various sizes and reinsurers), regulators, state legislators, independent agents, mortgage lenders, banks, and representatives from multiple federal agencies.
- 8Data collection and oversight: quarterly, policy-level data on exposures and claims, with data shared (in de-identified form where needed) with federal and state entities like the OFR, FIO, and state insurance departments; data publicly available online without exposing personal information.
- 9Relocation and earthquake feasibility reports: two Congress-facing studies due within 2–3 years to consider relocation funds for uninsurable properties and whether earthquakes should be added as an all-perils peril.
- 10Long-term policy pilot: a pilot for multi-year all-perils policies (minimum 5-year terms) with specific rules on premium adjustments (allowing increases for construction costs, home value, and optional coverages; but not based on the insurer’s view of peril risk) and requirements for loss mitigation partnerships as a condition of the policy.
- 11Policyholder transitions and cancellations: rules for continuation with new insurers and for returning funds if a policyholder cancels after receiving loss-prevention funds.
Impact Areas
Primary group/area affected: State-licensed primary property insurers (admitted or non-admitted), plus homeowners and commercial property policyholders who would be offered all-perils policies under the program; also includes insurers required to implement loss prevention partnerships.Secondary group/area affected: Reinsurers and the private catastrophe reinsurance market (via the program’s influence on demand for private reinsurance and potential creation of capital-market tools like catastrophe bonds); state insurance regulators; mortgage lenders and banks (through linked advisory/participation roles and the pilot for longer-term policies); emergency management and housing agencies.Additional impacts:- Fiscal/financial: creation of a new federal fund funded by premiums, with the possibility of issuing US-guaranteed notes/bonds if funds are insufficient; interest and tax treatment designed to be favorable to debt instruments and not subject to state/local taxes.- Market dynamics: potential push toward safer underwriting and loss mitigation due to loss-prevention requirements; possible expansion of all-perils policies and multi-year underwriting in pilot areas; development of new data-sharing capabilities to monitor systemic risk in property insurance markets.- Policy and governance: extensive advisory and reporting requirements to support risk assessment, regulatory oversight, and federal-state coordination on catastrophe risk.
Generated by gpt-5-nano on Oct 8, 2025