121 NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 

Note 16. Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities 

Insurance and Guarantee Program Liabilities as of September 30, 2022, and 2021 

(In billions of dollars) 2022 2021 

Single-Employer Pension Plan - Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ..................... 78.3 108.9 

Federal Crop Insurance - Department of Agriculture ................................................. 17.3 14.2 

Multiemployer Pension Plan - Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ......................... 2.4 3.0 

Other insurance and guarantee programs ................................................................ 6.5 3.7 

Total insurance and guarantee program liabilities ................................................... 104.5 129.8 

The federal government incurs liabilities related to various insurance and guarantee programs as detailed in the table 

above. Note 21—Contingencies includes a discussion of contingencies and other risks related to significant insurance and 

guarantee programs. Insurance information and the related liability concerning federal employee and veteran benefits are 

included in Note 13—Federal Employee and Veteran Benefits Payable. Social insurance and loan guarantees are not 

considered insurance programs under SFFAS No. 51, Insurance Programs, and are accounted for under SFFAS No. 17,

Accounting for Social Insurance, and SFFAS No. 2, Accounting for Direct Loans and Loan Guarantees. Loan guarantees are 

disclosed in Note 4—Loans Receivable, Net and Loan Guarantee Liabilities, and social insurance information is included 

primarily in the sustainability financial statements and in Note 25—Social Insurance. 

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 21—Contingencies 

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

entity. PBGC, which insures defined benefit pensions, has the largest insurance and guarantee program liability. 

PBGC insures pension benefits for participants in covered defined benefit pension plans. The FY 2022 decrease of 

$31.2 billion in PBGC’s liability for its two separate insurance programs is comprised of a decrease of $30.6 billion in the 

single-employer program liability and a decrease of $0.6 billion in the multiemployer program liability. As of September 30, 

2022, and 2021, PBGC had total liabilities of $90.3 billion and $122.8 billion, respectively. As of September 30, 2022, 

PBGC’s total assets exceeded its total liabilities by $37.6 billion, and in FY 2021 its total assets exceeded its total liabilities 

by $31.4 billion. Most of the change in liability from FY 2021 to FY 2022 occurred in the single-employer program and was 

primarily due to change in interest factors which resulted from increases in market interest rates. On March 11, 2021, the 

ARP established the SFA program for distressed multiemployer pension plans that meet specific eligibility criteria. The SFA 

program is administered by PBGC and paid in a lump sum rather than in periodic payments. An application under the ARP 

must be filed by the eligible plans no later than December 31, 2025. Unlike PBGC’s insolvency insurance program for 

multiemployer plans, which is funded by insurance premiums, the SFA program is funded by appropriations from the 

General Fund. The SFA program is intended to enable eligible plans to pay benefits and administrative expenses for the next 

30 years, and, as a result, the vast majority of PBGC’s liability for traditional financial assistance recognized in previous 

years for ongoing plans that were previously expected to become insolvent was reversed (i.e., unbooked) in FY 2021. PBGC 

projects the range of total costs for the SFA program to be between $66.2 billion and $100.4 billion, including $7.5 billion 

paid during FY 2022. Refer to PBGC’s financial statements for additional information. 

As of September 30, 2022, and 2021, $17.3 billion and $14.2 billion, respectively, pertain to USDA’s Federal Crop 

Insurance Program. The Federal Crop Insurance Program is administered by the FCIC, which provides insurance to reduce 

agricultural producers’ economic losses due to natural disasters. 

As of September 30, 2022, and 2021, $5.8 billion and $3.4 billion, respectively, pertain to the DHS NFIP, which is 

included in Other insurance and guarantee programs. The NFIP insurance program 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 the timing and severity of flooding activity in the U.S. and 

can significantly vary year over year.