FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NAIC TESTIFIES BEFORE CONGRESS ON
NATURAL CATASTROPHE PREPAREDNESS

KANSAS CITY, MO (June 28, 2006) - Speaking today on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Kevin McCarty, Commissioner of Insurance Regulation for the State of Florida, testified before a key subcommittee of the House of Representatives on the role of insurance in preparing for large natural catastrophes. Commissioner McCarty commended the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity for holding the hearing and examining the issue of natural catastrophe preparation and response.

"Large natural catastrophes are a national economic problem, not simply a local insurance problem," said Commissioner McCarty, who also chairs the NAIC Catastrophe Insurance Working Group. "Congress and the states need to work together to develop a comprehensive plan today to better manage and mitigate the natural catastrophic events of tomorrow.

"Although insurance will always be the catalyst of economic recovery following natural catastrophes, much can and should be done prior to these events to minimize their impact," McCarty said. “Effective and enforced building codes, mitigation incentives and better land use policies are all steps to managing our national response to natural catastrophes.”

Commissioner McCarty's testimony highlighted a resolution passed during the NAIC Summer National Meeting in June that calls on Congress to consider these and other measures for dealing with natural disasters. McCarty also outlined some of the concepts being considered by the NAIC's National Catastrophe Plan, including tax-deferred catastrophe reserves, state catastrophe funds, and a federal catastrophe backstop.

“When the next natural catastrophe occurs, the ability of the affected housing markets and regional economies to endure and recover is going to be dependent, in part, on what we do here today and the decisions we make in the days to come,” McCarty said.

About the NAIC

About the NAIC Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories. The NAIC’s overriding objective is to assist state insurance regulators in protecting consumers and helping maintain the financial stability of the insurance industry by offering financial, actuarial, legal, computer, research, market conduct and economic expertise. Formed in 1871, the NAIC is the oldest association of state officials. For more than 135 years, state-based insurance supervision has served the needs of consumers, industry and the business of insurance at-large by ensuring hands-on, frontline protection for consumers, while providing insurers the uniform platforms and coordinated systems they need to compete effectively in an ever-changing marketplace. For more information, visit NAIC on the Web at: http://www.naic.org/press_home.htm

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