Insurance industry representatives had their hands full on Capitol Hill last week during two nearly simultaneous congressional hearings about Hurricane Katrina's fallout, as Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., tried to split insurers on their antitrust exemption.

Sen. Lott–who is pursuing his own lawsuit against his homeowners insurer, State Farm–sought support during a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee from smaller insurers for a repeal of the McCarran Ferguson Act's federal antitrust exemption by raising the possibility of a “safe harbor” that would apply to them but not to major nationwide companies.

At the same time, the Senate Banking Committee, chaired by Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn.–a presidential candidate–trained its spotlight on property insurance affordability and availability in high-risk areas, and the potential of a national catastrophe fund to solve the capacity problem.