Cassidy Hosts Flood Insurance Implementation Briefing with FEMA

Press Release

Today, Congressman Bill Cassidy spearheaded an implementation and oversight briefing with David Miller, head of the National Flood Insurance Program, and senior FEMA staff. Dr. Cassidy, along with Members of the Congressional Home Protection Caucus, discussed the impact of changes to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) under his substitute amendment to the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 (H.R. 3370).

There are many highlights from the briefing, including:

FEMA released new rate tables that capture the lower rates as prescribed by H.R. 3370. A policyholder who is covered under H.R. 3370, and is still seeing rate increases, needs to talk with their insurance company because the insurance companies might be using outdated rate tables.

FEMA has made progress on beginning to credit communities who have made advancements on restoring or building their levees. This will result in reduced flood insurance rates for policyholders in that community. However, this will need continual oversight to better assure accuracy.

FEMA also indicated that since H.R. 3370 included a surcharge on policies to build up the reserve fund, the reserve fund charge within an individual premium may be reduced once the reserve fund strengthens. This may result in a reduction of premiums in the future.
Dr. Cassidy's released the following statement:

"Passing the bill is only part of the process in making sure families start to see flood insurance relief, FEMA's implementation of it is another part. There have been a lot of changes to the National Flood Insurance Program in the past few months, but it looks like FEMA's implementation of the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act is moving in the right direction. I will continue to make sure Louisiana policyholders are treated fairly and that they start seeing flood insurance relief as soon as possible."

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