R Street’s insurance policy program explores efficient and effective market-based approaches to public policy questions that involve the transfer of risk. Among its priorities are risk-based insurance regulation, ending environmentally destructive taxpayer subsidies through the National Flood Insurance Program and the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. and exploring the benefits of mitigation through programs like the RESTORE Act and the Coastal Barrier Resources System.
The Issue
Publications
Trump eases off using disaster relief funds for his wall after bipartisan pushback
Media Coverage
From the Washington Examiner:
“The main problem is you have set bad precedent that this is just explicitly a slush fund, and if a president wants to decide something is a disaster, you can spend…
Georgia’s Insurance Regulation Needs Improvement
R.J. Lehmann & Marc Hyden
Like the underachieving student in the back of the class, Georgia recently earned a C grade for its regulation of the insurance market, as laid out in the annual Insurance Regulation Report Card…
Trump’s tariffs are wreaking havoc on farmers
Clark Packard
Farmers and ranchers were a key political constituency for President Trump in 2016. But after a year of trade-policy skirmishes, the president’s policy choices have fallen particularly hard on the…
Which states have the best insurance regulatory environments?
Media Coverage
From PropertyCasualty360:
For the fifth straight year, the R Street Institute, a public policy research organization, has compiled its Insurance Regulation Report Card, the annual examination of…
, Reason
Hey, California: Stop Encouraging Building in Fire Zones!
Media Coverage
From Reason:
Thanks to the state’s funky way of regulating insurance, residents in fire-prone areas have little reason to move out of harm’s way after the last ember has cooled, says Ray Lehmann, an…
WASHINGTON (Jan. 2, 2019) – The R Street Institute welcomes President Donald Trump’s signing of H.R. 5787, Strengthening Coastal Communities Act of 2018. The bill updates maps used to define the…
In 2018, we saw progress toward more competitive insurance markets. Residual property insurance mechanisms continued to shrink. Several states, notably Missouri, moved to loosen systems for filing…
Vermont tops the list for the fifth straight year; Louisiana ranks worst in the country
WASHINGTON (Dec. 26) – For the seventh year in a row, the R Street Institute has compiled its Insurance…
, NPR
Inside The Farm Bill: Subsidies For Farmers, Boost For Hemp And More
Media Coverage
From NPR:
Congress sends a massive, bipartisan farm bill to the president’s desk that includes subsidies to farmers and legalizes hemp. We’ll unpack.
Catherine Boudreau, food and…
, Reason
Reason Roundup: Farm bill
Media Coverage
From Reason:
Among other things, it widens “an agricultural subsidy program that’s already been widely criticized for sending benefits to people who, by most measures, would not count as farmers.”…