We last updated this promise in 2009, and back then, we saw no action toward the creation of a national disaster insurance reserve. Since then, Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in the northeast, and that has kicked off a new round of discussion about the need for such a fund.
U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, D-N.J., introduced the Taxpayer Protection Act in September 2012 to set up a fund fed by homeowners' private policy premiums. That fund would provide reinsurance to back up state disaster programs for massive losses.
A national fund "would make hurricane insurance affordable for Floridians and other people in exposed areas like Louisiana and Alabama and, surprisingly, even in New York City," Alan Grayson, another Florida congressman, told the Orlando Sentinel. "Who would have guessed that? Now it's an issue that clearly affects the entire Eastern Seaboard and literally over a hundred million people."
But the fund is still just an idea, not a pot of money.
"There continues to be chatter on this topic, which generally increases following a natural catastrophe. However, it remains unlikely that Congress will have the time to address this complex issue during an already busy lame-duck session," said Tom Santos, vice president of federal affairs for the American Insurance Association.
We contacted the White House about this promise and did not receive a response. A spokesman for FEMA -- which three years ago was studying the idea closely, according to the White House -- said he hadn't heard of the National Catastrophe Insurance Reserve.
In short, there is no reserve. We rate this a Promise Broken.
