Climate Threats Could Mean Big Jumps in Insurance Costs This Year

Eli Lehrer, president of the R Street Institute, a research organization in Washington that advocates for market-based policies, said the government could not ignore the financial burden facing people who already live in flood-prone homes.

But rather than shielding those people by keeping insurance rates low, Mr. Lehrer argued that Congress should offer direct subsidies, and only for people with modest incomes who would otherwise struggle to stay in their homes. Everyone else, he said, should face the full cost of the risk they face.

“We’ve been subsidizing people to live in areas that were dangerous when they moved there, and have become more dangerous,” Mr. Lehrer said.