NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 112

Note 15. Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities

Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities as of September 30, 2018, and 2017

(In billions of dollars) 2018 2017

Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities:

Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation - Benefit Pension Plans ................... 158.0 178.6

Department of Agriculture - Federal Crop Insurance................................... 10.3 11.3

Department of Homeland Security - National Flood Insurance Programs ..... 1.7 12.3

National Credit Union Administration - Share Insurance Fund ..................... 0.2 0.3

Total insurance and guarantee program liabilities .................................... 170.2 202.5

Insurance and guarantee program liabilities are recognized for known losses and contingent losses to the extent that the

underlying contingency is deemed probable and a loss amount is reasonably measurable. Please see Note 18—Contingencies

for discussion on the meaning of “probable” depending on the accounting framework used by each significant consolidation

entity.

As of September 30, 2018, and 2017, $158.0 billion and $178.6 billion, respectively, pertain to the PBGC singleemployer and multiemployer pension plans. PBGC insures pension benefits for participants in covered defined benefit

pension plans. The total decrease of $20.6 billion in PBGC’s liability for insured pension plans includes decreases of $9.5

billion and $11.1 billion for single-employer and multiemployer plans, respectively. For both single-employer and

multiemployer plans, the decreases were primarily driven by changes in actuarial assumptions related to changes in interest

factors. As of September 30, 2018, and 2017, PBGC had total liabilities of $163.7 billion and $184.4 billion, and its total

liabilities exceeded its total assets by $51.4 billion and $76.0 billion, respectively. Refer to PBGC’s financial statements for

more information.

As of September 30, 2018, and 2017, $10.3 billion and $11.3 billion, respectively, pertain to the USDA’s Federal Crop

Insurance Program. The Federal Crop Insurance Program is administered by the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, whose

mission is to provide an actuarially sound risk management program to reduce agricultural producers’ economic losses due to

natural disasters.

As of September 30, 2018, and 2017, $1.7 billion and $12.3 billion, respectively, pertain to the DHS National Flood

Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP insurance liability represents an estimate based on the loss and loss adjustment expense

factors inherent to the NFIP Insurance Underwriting Operations, including trends in claim severity and frequency. The

estimate is driven primarily by flooding activity in the U.S. and can vary significantly year over year depending on the timing

and severity of flooding activity. A reduced estimated insurance liability for disaster relief efforts for the significant

hurricanes in fiscal year 2018 is the primary driver of the $10.6 billion decrease from fiscal year 2017.

As of September 30, 2018, and 2017, $0.2 billion and $0.3 billion, respectively, pertain to NCUA’s National Credit

Union Share Insurance Fund (NCUSIF). The NCUSIF is administered by the NCUA, and protects members’ accounts in

insured credit unions in the event of a credit union failure.

Certain significant consolidation entities apply FASB standards, and such entities, as permitted by SFFAS No. 47, are

consolidated into the U.S. government’s consolidated financial statements without conversion to FASAB standards.