I 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6944 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a catastrophic property 

loss reinsurance program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 10, 2024 

Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. MULLIN, Ms. SALINAS, Ms. HOYLE

of Oregon, Ms. LOFGREN, and Ms. BROWNLEY) introduced the following 

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury to establish a 

catastrophic property loss reinsurance program, and for 

other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Incorporating National 

5 Support for Unprecedented Risks and Emergencies Act’’ 

6 or the ‘‘INSURE Act’’. 

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1 SEC. 2. CATASTROPHIC PROPERTY LOSS REINSURANCE 

2 PROGRAM. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

4 shall, not later than 4 years after the date of the enact5 ment of this section, establish a catastrophic property loss 

6 reinsurance program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Pro7 gram’’) to provide reinsurance for qualifying primary in8 surance companies. 

9 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—An insurer is qualified to partici10 pate in the Program established by the Secretary under 

11 this section if such insurer— 

12 (1) offers an all-perils property insurance policy 

13 for— 

14 (A) residential property insurance policies; 

15 or 

16 (B) commercial property insurance policies; 

17 and 

18 (2) offers a loss prevention partnership with the 

19 policyholder to encourage investments and activities 

20 that reduce insured and economic losses from a ca21 tastrophe peril. 

22 (c) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary may contract 

23 with reinsurance brokers and consultants to assist the 

24 Secretary in the design and management of the Program. 

25 (d) PROGRAM PHASE-IN TIMELINE.—The Secretary 

26 shall— 

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1 (1) not later than January 1 of the year begin2 ning 4 years after the date of the enactment of this 

3 section, operate the Program for the peril of flood; 

4 (2) not later than January 1 of the year begin5 ning 5 years after the date of the enactment of this 

6 section, operate the Program for the perils of wind 

7 and hurricane; 

8 (3) not later than January 1 of the year begin9 ning 6 years after the date of the enactment of this 

10 section, operate the Program for the perils of severe 

11 convective storm and wildfire; and 

12 (4) not later than the earlier of January 1 of 

13 the year beginning 8 years after the date of the en14 actment of this section or the date on which the fea15 sibility report described in paragraph (2) of section 

16 4 is submitted, operate the Program for the peril of 

17 earthquake. 

18 (e) NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM DIS19 CONTINUATION.—On the date that the Secretary begins 

20 operating the Program with respect to the peril of flood, 

21 the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management 

22 Agency shall— 

23 (1) discontinue the issuance and renewal of 

24 policies under the national flood insurance program; 

25 and 

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1 (2) continue to operate the national flood insur2 ance program until— 

3 (A) policies under such program issued 

4 prior to the discontinuation date under para5 graph (1) have expired; and 

6 (B) all claims on policies under such pro7 gram issued prior to the discontinuation date 

8 have been closed. 

9 (f) THRESHOLD FOR PAYMENT.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, after 

11 consulting with the advisory committee established 

12 under subsection (i), establish a financial threshold 

13 at which a participating insurer may receive 

14 amounts from the fund established under subsection 

15 (j). 

16 (2) THRESHOLD CALCULATION.—The threshold 

17 established under paragraph (1) shall be an amount 

18 not greater than 40 percent of the probable max19 imum loss of an individual participating insurer for 

20 each catastrophe peril included in the Program. 

21 (3) CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing the 

22 threshold described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 

23 shall consider— 

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1 (A) the amount of reinsurance necessary to 

2 meaningfully reduce the cost to the partici3 pating insurer to— 

4 (i) provide coverage for catastrophe 

5 perils covered by the Program; and 

6 (ii) encourage States to require par7 ticipating insurers to offer an all-perils 

8 property insurance policy; 

9 (B) the levels of primary insurer retention 

10 and private reinsurance market capacity nec11 essary to— 

12 (i) promote stable and competitive 

13 markets for catastrophe reinsurance; and 

14 (ii) incentivize the establishment by 

15 private parties of capital market alter16 natives to reinsurance, for example the cre17 ation of a market for catastrophe bonds; 

18 and 

19 (C) the role of the Program in promoting 

20 investments by participating insurers that 

21 would be aimed at decreasing losses. 

22 (g) PREMIUMS.— 

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall require 

24 participating insurers to pay a premium to the Sec25 retary each quarter. 

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1 (2) PREMIUM AMOUNT CONSIDERATIONS.—The 

2 amount of the premium required under paragraph 

3 (1) shall reflect only the following considerations: 

4 (A) The expected average annual losses for 

5 the participating insurer, as calculated by the 

6 Secretary based on the exposure of such partici7 pating insurer. 

8 (B) The administrative costs to administer 

9 and manage the Program. 

10 (3) CONSULTATION.—The Secretary shall con11 sult with the advisory committee established under 

12 subsection (i) when establishing premium amounts 

13 and may contract for services to assist in the estab14 lishment of premium amounts. 

15 (4) MINIMUM PREMIUM REQUIRED.—The Sec16 retary may not establish any premium that is less 

17 than 50 percent of the amount equal to the sum of 

18 the— 

19 (A) expected average annual losses for the 

20 participating insurer, as calculated by the Sec21 retary based on the exposure of such partici22 pating insurer; and 

23 (B) administrative costs to administer and 

24 manage the Program. 

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1 (5) PREMIUM ADJUSTMENTS.—The Secretary 

2 shall adjust premiums each quarter for each partici3 pating insurer to reflect material changes in the ex4 posure of such insurer. 

5 (6) PREMIUM INCREASES.—Excluding any ad6 justment made under paragraph (5), the Secretary 

7 may increase premiums for a participating insurer 

8 not more than 7 percent annually. 

9 (h) LOSS PREVENTION PARTNERSHIPS.— 

10 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in coordina11 tion with the advisory committee established under 

12 subsection (i), State insurance agencies, and State 

13 and Federal emergency management agencies, shall 

14 develop a list of activities that qualify as loss preven15 tion partnerships for purposes of this section. The 

16 list may include the following activities: 

17 (A) Participating insurers providing 

18 amounts to insured parties to cover the cost, in 

19 whole or in part, of activities aimed at reducing 

20 losses to the insured party. 

21 (B) Participating insurers making coverage 

22 contingent upon the implementation of a loss 

23 prevention activity by a potential insured party. 

24 (2) ACTIVITIES EXCLUDED FROM LOSS PRE25 VENTION PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary, State inVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:21 Jan 13, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6944.IH H6944
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1 surance agencies, and State and Federal emergency 

2 management may not include the following activities 

3 as loss prevention partnerships for purposes of this 

4 section: 

5 (A) The provision of an insurance pre6 mium discount for an investment by an insured 

7 party or potential insured party in an activity 

8 designed to reduce the losses of the partici9 pating insurer, absent an investment by the 

10 participating insurer. 

11 (B) The provision of general information 

12 about loss prevention. 

13 (i) ADVISORY COMMITTEE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

15 an advisory committee to advise the Secretary with 

16 respect to the Program. 

17 (2) MEMBERSHIP.—The committee established 

18 in paragraph (1) shall include the following mem19 bers: 

20 (A) 5 members representing consumer or21 ganizations engaged in fair housing, insurance, 

22 environmental, climate, and technology advo23 cacy. 

24 (B) 3 members selected from individual 

25 primary insurance companies selling property 

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1 insurance policies, including one large national 

2 insurer, one medium sized regional insurer, and 

3 one small insurer. 

4 (C) 1 global reinsurer active in United 

5 States property insurance markets. 

6 (D) 1 domestic-focused reinsurer active in 

7 United States property insurance markets. 

8 (E) 2 insurance regulators from a State, 

9 Territory, or the District of Colombia. 

10 (F) 2 State legislators who serve on State 

11 legislative committees with oversight over insur12 ance matters and who are not employed directly 

13 or indirectly by any person or organization en14 gaged in the business of insurance. 

15 (G) 2 members selected from independent 

16 insurance agents who serve traditionally under17 served areas. 

18 (H) 1 representative from a mortgage 

19 lender. 

20 (I) 1 representative from a bank. 

21 (J) 1 representative from each of the fol22 lowing agencies: 

23 (i) The Department of Housing and 

24 Urban Development. 

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1 (ii) The Department of Health and 

2 Human Services. 

3 (iii) The Federal Housing Finance 

4 Agency. 

5 (iv) The Department of Veterans Af6 fairs. 

7 (v) The Department of Agriculture. 

8 (vi) The Federal Emergency Manage9 ment Agency. 

10 (vii) The Office of Management and 

11 Budget. 

12 (viii) The Environmental Protection 

13 Agency. 

14 (K) 1 representative from the Financial 

15 Stability Oversight Council. 

16 (j) FEDERAL CATASTROPHE REINSURANCE FUND.— 

17 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish 

18 the Federal Catastrophe Reinsurance Fund (in this 

19 section referred to as the ‘‘Fund’’) to hold and in20 vest premiums paid by participating insurers. 

21 (2) ISSUANCE OF NOTES AND BONDS.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—If amounts in the Fund 

23 are insufficient to pay obligations to partici24 pating insurers, the Secretary shall issue notes 

25 and bonds under this paragraph, the proceeds 

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1 of which shall be used for payment obligations 

2 to participating insurers. 

3 (B) TERMS.—Notes and bonds issued 

4 under this paragraph shall be in such form and 

5 denominations, and shall be subject to such 

6 terms and conditions of issue, conversion, re7 demption, maturation, and payment as the Sec8 retary may prescribe and shall be fully and un9 conditionally guaranteed both as to interest and 

10 principal by the United States, and such guar11 anty shall be expressed on the face of each 

12 bond. 

13 (C) INTEREST.—Notes and bonds issued 

14 under this paragraph shall bear interest at a 

15 rate not less than the current average yield on 

16 outstanding market obligations of the United 

17 States of comparable maturity during the 

18 month preceding the issuance of the obligation 

19 as determined by the Secretary. 

20 (D) TREATMENT.—All notes and bonds 

21 issued under this paragraph, and the interest 

22 on credits with respect to such obligations, shall 

23 not be subject to taxation by any State, county, 

24 municipality, or local taxing authority. 

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1 (E) SATISFACTION.—The Secretary shall 

2 utilize investment revenue from the Fund to 

3 satisfy any notes or bonds issued under this 

4 paragraph. 

5 (k) DATA COLLECTION.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall— 

7 (A) establish a statistical plan for quar8 terly reporting by participating insurers of pol9 icy-level claim transaction data; 

10 (B) consult with the advisory committee 

11 established under subsection (i) and the Na12 tional Association of Insurance Commissioners 

13 with respect to— 

14 (i) the contents of the statistical plan; 

15 and 

16 (ii) the method of data collection; 

17 (C) collect quarterly reports from each par18 ticipating insurer that include— 

19 (i) a description of all exposures cov20 ered by the Program at the time of the 

21 submission of the report; and 

22 (ii) a list of the type and amount of 

23 all claims made in the previous quarter; 

24 (D) in a manner that does not risk public 

25 disclosure of personally identifiable information 

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1 of policyholders, provide the quarterly reports 

2 received under subparagraph (C) to— 

3 (i) the Director of the Office of Fi4 nancial Research to assess risk to— 

5 (I) the financial stability of the 

6 United States; and 

7 (II) international financial sys8 tems arising from United States prop9 erty insurance markets, including lack 

10 of available property insurance or in11 adequate coverage from property in12 surance; 

13 (ii) the Director of the Federal Insur14 ance Office to assess the risks to the finan15 cial stability arising from under-insurance 

16 of property insurance policies covering ca17 tastrophe perils, including in traditionally 

18 underserved insurance markets; 

19 (iii) the head of the department of in20 surance in each State; and 

21 (iv) any other Federal, State, or local 

22 government entity that, as determined by 

23 the Secretary, is related to— 

24 (I) catastrophe loss prevention, 

25 mitigation, or recovery; or 

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1 (II) the promotion of competitive 

2 property insurance markets; and 

3 (E) make the data collected under this 

4 paragraph available online in a manner that 

5 does not risk public disclosure of personally 

6 identifiable information of policyholders. 

7 (2) CONTRACTING WITH A STATISTICAL

8 AGENT.— 

9 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 contract with a statistical agent via a competi11 tive bidding process to collect and review the 

12 data under this subsection for accuracy and 

13 completeness. 

14 (B) OFFICE OF FINANCIAL RESEARCH AS

15 THE STATISTICAL AGENT.—If the Secretary is 

16 unable to identify a qualified statistical agent 

17 for collection of data under this subsection, the 

18 Director of the Office of Financial Research 

19 shall establish a data collection infrastructure 

20 for collection of such data. 

21 SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO PROMOTE LOSS PREVENTION 

22 INVESTMENTS. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

24 grant program to provide grants to States to— 

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1 (1) incentivize participating insurers, policy2 holders, and State and local governments to provide 

3 funding for investments in activities aimed at reduc4 ing losses to insurance providers; and 

5 (2) encourage States to mandate that insurers 

6 offer an all-perils property insurance policy. 

7 (b) AMOUNT OF GRANTS.—When providing amounts 

8 to States under the grant program established under sub9 section (a), the Secretary shall— 

10 (1) solicit proposals from States describing the 

11 ways in which States will use any amounts provided 

12 to improve the availability and affordability of all13 perils property insurance policies through invest14 ments in loss mitigation and risk management; 

15 (2) prioritize grants that yield the greatest re16 turn on investment for loss prevention and risk miti17 gation which benefit or target low and moderate in18 come consumers and small businesses; and 

19 (3) prioritize the awarding of grants to States 

20 with the strongest building codes and which require 

21 property insurance policies that provide coverage for 

22 the catastrophe perils covered by the Program with23 out excessively large deductibles as determined by 

24 the Secretary. 

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1 (c) LOW AND MODERATE INCOME CONSUMERS DE2 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘low and moderate in3 come consumers’’ means a consumer with an income of 

4 less than 120 percent of the median household income for 

5 the community. 

6 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

7 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

8 out this section— 

9 (1) $50,000,000,000 in 2026; 

10 (2) $55,000,000,000 in 2027; 

11 (3) $60,000,000,000 in 2028; 

12 (4) $65,000,000,000 in 2029; and 

13 (5) $70,000,000,000 in 2030. 

14 SEC. 4. REPORTS ON RELOCATION FUND AND EARTH15 QUAKE COVERAGE. 

16 The Secretary shall not later than— 

17 (1) 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

18 this Act, submit to Congress a report on the feasi19 bility of establishing a fund to relocate homes and 

20 businesses that have become uninsurable due to ca21 tastrophe perils; and 

22 (2) 3 years after the date of the enactment of 

23 this Act, submit to Congress a report on the feasi24 bility of including earthquakes as a peril covered 

25 under the all-perils property insurance policy. 

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1 SEC. 5. ASSISTANCE FOR LOW-INCOME CONSUMERS. 

2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, as amounts 

3 appropriated under this section allow, establish a grant 

4 program for States to provide financial assistance to low5 income consumers for whom residential property insur6 ance— 

7 (1) is required; and 

8 (2) represents a significant portion of the 

9 household income of such consumers. 

10 (b) APPLICATION.—In applying for a grant under 

11 this section, a State shall demonstrate how the State will 

12 use grant amounts in the order of priority under sub13 section (c). 

14 (c) ORDER OF PRIORITY FOR GRANT AMOUNTS.—A 

15 State receiving grant amounts under this section shall 

16 prioritize the use of such amounts in the following man17 ner: 

18 (1) The use of grant amounts for risk reduction 

19 as the means to reduce the primary insurance pre20 mium for the consumer. 

21 (2) The use of grant amounts to relocate the 

22 homeowner from an uninsurable property. 

23 (3) The use of grant amounts as cash assist24 ance to pay a portion of the insurance premium. 

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1 (d) CONSULTATION.—When establishing the grant 

2 program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall consult 

3 with the— 

4 (1) Secretary of Housing and Urban Develop5 ment; 

6 (2) Director of the Federal Housing Finance 

7 Agency; 

8 (3) Secretary of Veterans Affairs; 

9 (4) Assistant Secretary for Housing and Fed10 eral Housing Commissioner for the Federal Housing 

11 Administration; and 

12 (5) Secretary of Agriculture. 

13 (e) REPORT.—The Secretary shall, not later than 2 

14 years after the date of the enactment of this section and 

15 each year thereafter, publish a report that analyzes which 

16 risk reduction investments under subsection (c)(1) are 

17 most cost-effective, broken down by State and by type of 

18 catastrophe peril. 

19 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary 

21 $50,000,000,000 annually to carry out this section. 

22 SEC. 6. LONG-TERM POLICY PILOT PROGRAM. 

23 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, in consulta24 tion with States and the National Association of Insurance 

25 Commissioners, establish a pilot program for all-perils 

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1 property insurance policies with a policy term of at least 

2 5 years (in this section referred to as a ‘‘multi-year pol3 icy’’). 

4 (b) PREMIUM AND POLICY CONDITIONS.—An insurer 

5 who participates in the pilot program established under 

6 this section may— 

7 (1) increase premiums based on— 

8 (A) price indexes of construction costs; 

9 (B) changes in home value; and 

10 (C) optional coverages selected by the pol11 icyholder; 

12 (2) not increase premiums based on a change in 

13 the assessment by the insurer of the catastrophe 

14 peril risks associated with the insured property; 

15 (3) require property maintenance consistent 

16 with the condition of the property at time of initial 

17 policy issuance; and 

18 (4) require loss mitigation investment partner19 ships as a condition for the multi-year policy. 

20 (c) ACTIONS BY THE POLICYHOLDER.— 

21 (1) POLICY CONTINUATION.—With the agree22 ment of the insurer, a consumer purchasing the 

23 property during the term of the multi-year policy 

24 may continue the policy for the remainder of the 

25 term. 

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1 (2) ELECTION TO NEW INSURER.—If the policy2 holder elects to move to a new insurer during the 

3 term of the multi-year policy, the new insurer may 

4 pay the pro-rata share of the loss mitigation invest5 ment for the policyholder. 

6 (3) CANCELLATION BY POLICYHOLDER.—If the 

7 policyholder is the recipient of any funds for loss 

8 prevention property improvements from the insurer, 

9 Federal, State, local government, or other source 

10 and the policyholder cancels the policy before the 

11 end of the multi-year policy term, the policyholder 

12 shall return a pro-rata share of such improvement to 

13 the source of the funds. 

14 SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS. 

15 In this Act: 

16 (1) ALL-PERILS PROPERTY INSURANCE POL17 ICY.—The term ‘‘all-perils property insurance pol18 icy’’ means a property insurance policy approved by 

19 a State which includes coverage for catastrophe per20 ils as such perils are added to the Program. 

21 (2) CATASTROPHE PERIL.—The term ‘‘catas22 trophe peril’’ means the damage caused by— 

23 (A) wind, hurricane, wildfire, severe con24 vective storm, and flood as they are added to 

25 the Program under section 2(d); 

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1 (B) earthquake, conditioned on the report 

2 under section 4(2); and 

3 (C) any other peril as determined by the 

4 Secretary and added to the Program. 

5 (3) ENGAGED IN THE BUSINESS OF INSUR6 ANCE.—The term ‘‘engaged in the business of insur7 ance’’ means a person or entity that is subject to 

8 oversight by a State insurance department. 

9 (4) INSURER.—The term ‘‘insurer’’— 

10 (A) means an admitted or non-admitted in11 surance company licensed or authorized to sell 

12 primary property insurance by State insurance 

13 regulators; and 

14 (B) does not include a reinsurance com15 pany or a captive insurance company. 

16 (5) PARTICIPATING INSURER.—The term ‘‘par17 ticipating insurer’’ means an insurer that is partici18 pating in the Program. 

19 (6) PROPERTY INSURANCE POLICY.—The term 

20 ‘‘property insurance policy’’ means a contract of in21 surance, through a policy form approved by a State 

22 insurance department, that provides, among other 

23 coverages, coverage for physical damage to residen24 tial or commercial property. 

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1 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of the Treasury. 

3 (8) STATISTICAL PLAN.—The term ‘‘statistical 

4 plan’’ means— 

5 (A) a description of the data elements to 

6 be reported; and 

7 (B) the instructions and procedures for ac8 curately reporting data. 

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