Industry faces “very serious issues” with a Trump or Clinton presidency, leaders say

Both concerns and opportunity for the insurance industry abound with either candidate in the White House, according to a prominent industry lobbyist

Insurance News

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One of the largest federal lobbying bodies for the property/casualty industry does not take a position in presidential politics, but at least one among its leaders believes either outcome of the 2016 contest will be a mixed bag for the insurance business.

“Regardless of the outcome, there are very serious issues with both candidates,” Nat Wienecke, senior vice president for federal government relations with the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, told Insurance Business America. “It’s no secret that with regard to the importation of international capital standards, a President Clinton would continue policies put in place by Obama, while Donald Trump’s proposed changes to the McCarran-Ferguson Act seem to confuse the property/casualty and health spaces.”

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has indeed been forward regarding her plans to further scrutinize the insurance industry, publicly stating she is “very skeptical” of some of the biggest mergers and acquisitions among companies in the industry.

“Too often, the companies end up pocketing profits rather than passing savings to consumers,” Clinton said, additionally promising to strengthen antitrust enforcement arms of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission and appoint “aggressive regulators” to take on M&A in the industry.

Republican nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile, has pushed for the repeal of McCarran-Ferguson in an effort to promote the sale of insurance across state lines. Yet repeal of the act would also remove US provisions that exempt the business of insurance from most federal regulation, including antitrust laws to a limited extent. “Much education” would be necessary if Trump was elected, Wienecke said.

The PCI does believe, however, it can “work with either one of the candidates” on some issues important to the industry, including highway safety and more robust weather prediction.

“We’ve begun a dialogue with representatives of both campaigns and see new opportunities with either candidate,” Wienecke told IBA. “The challenges will just be different.

The PCI PAC, lobbying arm for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, has spent more than $960,000 on both Republican and Democratic candidates for the House and Senate in 2016.
 

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