Posts Tagged ‘terrorism’

9/11: A 15 Year Remembrance

Friday, September 9th, 2016

On September 11, 2001, the nation took the biggest of gut-punches. Thousands died that day and hundreds of thousands, all around the world, have died since. If you were in the insurance industry that day, you probably lost at least one friend, maybe more. I know I did. The world changed after that day, and barbarism raised its head like a volcano rising from the crash of tectonic plates.

First Responders have been particularly savaged. More than 5,000 have been victimized by cancer. Dr. Michael Crane, the head of New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital’s 9/11 Health Program Clinic estimates he sees ten to fifteen new cases per week. Today, CBS This Morning told the story of one of them, Sal Terderici. It is heartbreaking.

We all sought healing in our own ways. Because I’m a musician and a singer, I sought to deal with the tragedy by writing an anthem about it. I recorded it in Worcester’s Mechanics Hall and renowned guitarist Peter Clemente accompanied me. We gave the song to Denis Leary, a Worcester native who had lost a cousin, a firefighter, as he battled the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Company fire in 1999. Five of his cousin’s comrades also died in that fire. Denis became passionate about helping firefighters following that. You may recall his hit TV show, Rescue Me, which ran on FX from 2004 through 2011. Rescue Me was a seven year homage to a noble profession. Denis took our song and used it to help raise money for the fallen firefighters of September 11.

This coming Sunday will mark the 15th anniversary of, arguably, the worst day in American history. To mark the event, I want to share our anthem with you. You can find it here.

Tom Lynch

House votes to extend Terrorism Act … presidential veto expected

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

We have a fight brewing over the Terrorism Risk Insurance Revision and Extension Act (TRIEA), which the House just voted to extend for 15 years. We live in unusual times when the white knight for the insurance industry is Barney Frank and the opponent is George Bush.
The House measure not only extended the bill, but also strengthened it:

It would add group life insurance to the lines of insurance covered by the program, and it would cover terrorist attacks by Americans as well as by foreigners. It would also require commercial property and casualty insurance policies to cover losses from terrorist attacks involving nuclear, biological, chemical or radiological attacks. Typically such policies now exclude that coverage.

According to other news reports, it would also kick in at $50 million, rather than the current $100 million.
Many in the insurance industry think that such a measure is vital to ensure industry solvency in the event of large-scale terror, particularly in workers comp. In other lines of insurance, carriers can price for the coverage or can simply refuse to extend coverage, but because workers compensation is statutory, these mechanisms aren’t available.
This is likely to produce pushback from the White House – it’s anticipated that the president will veto the measure, viewing it as an unacceptable expansion to a program that was intended as temporary. The White House issued a statement saying that the most efficient method for providing terrorism coverage will come from the private sector. In response, bill sponsor Barney Frank said, “There are in our midst people who believe in the free market so firmly that they believe in it the way other people believe in unicorns.”
Get out the popcorn, this could be an interesting contest. It may be a nail-biter, too, since the current law is set to expire at the end of the year and workers comp is heading into its heavy renewal season.

Congress considering Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) renewal

Monday, September 27th, 2004

Business Insurance reports that the outlook for extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) looks positive. The bill was enacted to provide a $100 million federal backstop for insurers but it is set to expire at the end of next year. As we approach one of the primary policy renewal cycles, insurers are getting edgy about the idea of TRIA expiring.
Insurance Journal reports on testimony that the Council of Insurance agents & Brokers (CIAB) made before the Senate Banking Committee last week. Albert R. (Skip) Counselman, a former CIAB chairman and president and CEO of Riggs, Counselman, Michaels & Downes, Maryland’s largest independent brokerage firm, told the Senate that the private marketplace will not be prepared to take on the full risk posed by potentially catastrophic terrorism losses by the time the law expires on Dec. 31, 2005.
“Without the backstop, the economy could suffer significant damage as businesses pull back because the lack of insurance coverage makes them financially vulnerable.”
He noted that TRIA affects all parts of the country, and because of its enactment, the availability of terrorism coverage has grown, premium prices have dropped and nearly half of all insured are purchasing terror cover.
According to a study earlier this year by Marsh, Inc., the largest percentage of companies buying terrorism insurance were in the energy business, followed by the media, food and beverage, habitational/hospitality, health care and real estate industries.”

For more on this topic:
Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA) to expire
Terrorism risk and workers compensation
Workers Comp and Terror: The Long Shadow