Wayne White on the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act (PRIA)

Making economic survival as accesssable to small businesses as well as large ones is the focus of the Pandemic Risk Insurance Act (PRIA), according to PIA National President Wayne White. PRIA has been introduced by Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY), senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, as that potential solution. White testified before a hearing Maloney held on PRIA.

Insurance Business Americapublished an analysis of White's testimony and examined PIA National's position on PRIA, noting that PIA National is calling for is a public-private partnership through which the federal government and private industry will unite to provide compensation for business interruption losses resulting from future pandemics or public health emergencies.

"PIA National believes that keeping a future pandemic from causing economic disaster requires a public-private partnership, and the insurance community can be a part of that solution," said White. Alluding to the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), the creation of which PIA National successfully advocated for in 2002, White noted "This is certainly very similar, where carriers feel that the severity and frequency [of losses] are not predictable, and they're concerned about industry surplus. The public-private partnership addresses that issue so that it should allow carriers to participate in this."