Head's up, folks! Come Monday, the Consumer Federation of America will unleash a broadside attack against the industry for allegedly gouging consumers to reap record profits the past two years. The Insurance Information Institute–whose new president, Bob Hartwig, vowed to proactively "neutralize critics" when he took office this week–immediately went on the counterattack, before the report was even released. Why wait to get bashed over the head when you are confident in your defense?

According to our own Matt Brady, CFA on Jan. 8 will detail the strategies insurers have allegedly used to shift their costs onto consumers, along with recommendations for state and federal policymakers to limit profiteering.

But Mr. Hartwig is ready to counter those who would blame the industry for making a profit in a good year. Its unfortunate that the CFA would find it necessary or appropriate to release a report that is effectively a complete fiction, he said, arguing that the industrys return on equity at best meets and likely falls short of that of Fortune 500 companies.

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader

Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.