Senate Leaders Still Far From Asbestos Compromise

By Steven Brostoff, Washington

NU Online News Service, Sept. 4, 2003, 2:30 p.m. EDT?Asbestos litigation reform remains a top priority issue for the insurance industry now that Congress is back from its August recess, but the outlook for reaching a compromise is uncertain at best, industry representatives say.

Indeed, several said that a bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee is now in serious trouble with a compromise well out of reach.

At the same time, industry representatives expect to be working on such issues as class action litigation reform, reauthorization of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, flood insurance, anti-spamming legislation and insurance regulatory reform in the remaining few months before the first session of the 108th Congress adjourns.

On asbestos reform, Carl Parks, senior vice president of federal government relations with the Des Plaines, Ill.-based National Association of Independent Insurers, said that the Senate leadership is trying to craft a bill that can be brought to the floor. Many manufacturing companies with asbestos litigation problems, he noted, face bankruptcy without a bill, which is spurring the Senate to try and develop a compromise.

Monte Ward, vice president of federal affairs for the Indianapolis-based National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said however, that right now, the Senate leadership does not appear to be even close to achieving a compromise.

NAMIC, he noted, opposes the legislation passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee, S. 1125, but would be happy if they could negotiate a compromise.

The entire insurance industry opposes S. 1125 as written, arguing that it is far too expensive and does not prevent plaintiffs from pursuing their claims through litigation.

By contrast, labor unions and trial lawyers argue that S. 1125 does not provide adequate benefits to some claimants.

S. 1125 would establish a trust fund to resolve asbestos-related claims, with the insurance industry responsible for some $75 billion in upfront funding and possibly unlimited back-end funding.

Maria Berthoud, senior vice president of government affairs for the Alexandria, Va.-based Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, said S. 1125 seems to be in serious trouble. She said she has grave concerns over whether Congress can reach a compromise when there are such stark differences of opinion.

Nonetheless, she said, the industry is still trying to work with the Senate and will not give up.

Turning to other issues, Mr. Parks said he hopes the Senate will address class action litigation reform soon. Legislation pending in both the House and the Senate would establish federal court jurisdiction over many major class action lawsuits.

Mr. Parks said that the class action system is out of control and has become a drag on the economy.

As for FCRA reauthorization, Mr. Parks said he hopes the Senate will get to the issue this fall. In the House, a reauthorization bill has already passed the Financial Services Committee and should reach the floor of the House soon.

The insurance industry is concerned about one provision in the House bill that calls for a Federal Trade Commission study of the impact of insurance industry credit scoring on the availability of credit.

Mr. Parks said that it will be difficult to knock the study provision out of the House bill. But there is no evidence at this point that the Senate intends to include a similar provision in its bill.

The insurance industry, Mr. Parks said, will likely focus on keeping a study provision out of the Senate bill and then working to eliminate it or modify it substantially when a House-Senate Conference Committee develops a consensus bill.

On anti-spamming legislation, Ms. Berthoud said the industry is starting to get geared up for this issue. The concern, she said, is that some anti-spamming bills may be so restrictive that groups like IIABA will be constrained from communicating with their own members.

She likened it to the controversial "do-not-fax" regulation developed by the Federal Communications Commission that the industry is working to resolve.

Ms. Berthoud said that IIABA will be watching very carefully to assure that the same problems do not arise with anti-spamming legislation.

Finally, both the House and the Senate are expected to gather further information on the issue of insurance regulatory reform.

The House Financial Services Committee is likely to conduct a roundtable discussion involving insurance company executives and state insurance regulators for an update on state modernization efforts, both Ms. Berthoud and Mr. Parks said.

Kim Dorgan, senior vice president of federal affairs with the Washington-based American Council of Life Insurers, added that she expects the Senate Commerce Committee to hold a hearing on insurance regulation as well, possibly during the first week of October.

The hearing, she said, would be tied to legislation introduced by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings, D-S.C., mandating federal regulation for all companies that do business in more than one state.

In addition, Ms. Dorgan said, the Senate Banking Committee may conduct a briefing on the issue.

She said that ACLI, which supports optional federal chartering, is excited about the opportunity to discuss optional federal chartering in the Senate.

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Senate Leaders Still Far From Asbestos Compromise

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