National Flood Insurance Program contributes to ‘development in flood prone areas,’ NWF executive testifies
Private insurers “will take on high risk properties where those properties present an appropriate return for them,” said R.J. Lehmann, senior fellow, editor-in-chief and co-founder of the R Street Institute, in response to a question from Financial Services Committee member Ann Wagner, who represents the second district of Missouri.
“I would not dispute that subsidized properties are unlikely to be moved out of the NFIP until they pay risk based rates,” Lehmann said. “The program itself is a higher risk program and every policyholder in that program presents a cost to the taxpayer, which is why on an annual basis it is not actuarially sound.”