Backstops.

• Author: Acunto, Steve

Seven senators have spurred their peers in an effort to convince President Trump to protect the insurance industry from proposals in state legislatures that would require insurance companies to cover small-business losses due to the coronavirus pandemic retroactively, using BI and WC formats extended for the purpose. At the same time, state lawmakers in New York and New Jersey have introduced bills that would require small-business insurance policies to cover losses due to closures from the coronavirus retroactively.

And, we would add, illegally, irrationally and capriciously.

The new state-level legislation would precipitate financial losses for the business insurance industry, a fact recognized initially by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Rounds (R-S.C.), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and David Perdue (R-Ga.). The senators argued that the proposed changes "undermine our understanding of contractual obligations" and would serve to "help one segment of the economy by seriously harming another" written in a letter reportedly received by the Hill, a Washington publication. They said the insurance companies did not charge premiums associated with pandemic risks and therefore do not have the capital required to cover losses due to the coronavirus closures. "If the...