The chief executive officer of the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America warned his members last week to beware of a "divide and conquer" strategy in Washington when it comes to nailing down regulatory and health care reform.

David A. Sampson, CEO and president of PCI, said his concern is that in dealing with federal lawmakers and the White House, "industries will be cutting their own best deals and throwing the other guy under the bus."

Interviewed by National Underwriter prior to his speech last week in Orlando at PCI's annual meeting, Mr. Sampson said the debate over health care reform has pitted doctors, pharmaceutical companies and insurers against one another, just as those lobbying to shape energy legislation have seen nuclear, renewable and other energy sectors "trying to cut their best deal regardless of what that means. We're going to guard against that in the property and casualty industry."

Mr. Sampson said PCI is well financed to pursue its political aims, noting that his group's plan is for its political action committee to raise $1 million for the 2009-2010 election cycle. For this year, he said PCI's fundraising goal is $480,000, and "we've already got in $436,000.

So far in Washington this year, according to Mr. Sampson, the insurance industry has headed off additional onerous regulation for insurers in proposed financial services regulatory reform legislation and consumer protection measures. "I think we've been successful in making a compelling case that the property and casualty industry did not cause the financial meltdown," he said.

He added that PCI representatives have pointed out that over the past five years the industry has handled the avalanche of additional claims from events such as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, in addition to processing its normal business, "without having to ask for a bailout. We've been laying out that data to Congress…We have a compelling story to tell."

The PCI, said Mr. Sampson, has been very encouraged by "how open and responsive Congress and the [Obama] administration have been to our data."

"The first reason is that underwriting is our core competence," he noted, adding that the industry has not engaged in large-scale securitization of its exposures, is not highly leveraged, and has investment portfolios that are tightly regulated at the state level.

"All those factors allow us to perform as economic crises come and go," he told NU.

Mr. Sampson said he will alert members to other risks, including a recovery likely to be marked by slow growth for a long period. Companies, he said, are going to remain on the sidelines and not engage in rehiring "until they have more confidence that this economy is for real," hampering the economic recovery and dampening the expansion of insurable exposures.

He also foresees that massive government deficits will lead to inflation–of keen concern to p&c company CEOs because it will mean high repair costs for autos and homes in an environment where rate increases will be difficult to obtain, as was the case during the inflationary period of the 1970s.

Additionally, Mr. Sampson said he has concerns that efforts will be made to undermine the private insurance markets, as exemplified by moves to create a government-run public option for health insurance that could "crowd out" private insurers. That effort, he said, could spill over into the p&c sector.

Special Reports /

'Divide & Conquer' Atmosphere Grips D.C.

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