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Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
New survey reveals two key factors blamed for skyrocketing home insurance costs: 'Alarming trends'
A new survey reveals that voters believe two factors are mostly to blame for rate hikes in the insurance industry — and they believe accountability is lacking. In March, Data for Progress and the Insurance Fairness Project polled more than 1,200 "likely" voters in the United States, weighting the results to account for education, gender, age, race, geography, and their presidential vote. Respondents overwhelmingly blamed insurance CEOs and executives for skyrocketing insurance rates, with 85% saying they were "very responsible" or "somewhat responsible." A mere 4% refused to place any responsibility on leadership. However, voters recognized complex factors are at play. They listed extreme weather events supercharged by a warming climate as the second-biggest culprit. Around two-thirds said they were worried about the possible impact of future extreme weather events. They also cited inflation, state insurance regulators, and the federal government/regulators, respectively, as the other top five elements "very responsible" for rate hikes. In January, after the Los Angeles area wildfires, the U.S. Department of the Treasury revealed that the average homeowner experienced a per-policy premium increase at a rate 8.7% faster than inflation from 2018 to 2022. Residents in high-risk regions paid even more. While rate hikes can vary depending on a household's ZIP code, one thing is clear: Millions of Americans are struggling to maintain or even obtain coverage. This can hinder communities from rebuilding after natural disasters and ultimately impede economic growth. "This report identifies alarming trends of rising costs of insurance — to consumers and insurers themselves — as well as lack of availability of insurance, all of which threaten the long-term prosperity of American families," said Janet L. Yellen, who served as Secretary of the Treasury from 2021 to 2025. While challenges lie ahead, the Data for Progress and the Insurance Fairness Project survey reveals voters are hungry for relief. Even though multiple states have passed legislation aimed at protecting homeowners, at least half of the respondents said that insurance companies, federal and state governments, and state insurance commissioners should be doing more to hold insurers accountable. Do you think your city has good air quality? Definitely Somewhat Depends on the time of year Not at all Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. "Voters know that the states at higher risk of extreme weather aren't the only ones likely to be harmed by a property insurance crisis," Data for Progress wrote. "... These results remain consistent across party lines and regardless of whether voters have been personally impacted by extreme weather events in the past." You can advocate for more action on this matter by contacting your representatives. Talking with family and friends can also help raise awareness about the insurance crisis. Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Washington Post
15-04-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
It's not just tariffs. Trump is creating chaos with taxes, too.
Natasha Sarin is a Post contributing columnist and a former deputy assistant secretary for economic policy and counselor to Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen. Danny Werfel was IRS commissioner from 2023 to 2025. We are learning in real time that President Donald Trump's significant swings in U.S. tariff policy do not create the type of stability corporations — and American consumers — need. But there's another story unfolding that is equally detrimental to the nation's future but isn't getting much attention: The gutting of the Internal Revenue Service.
New York Times
26-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
U.S. Could Run Out of Cash by May, Budget Office Predicts
The U.S. could run out of money to pay its bills by late May if Congress does not raise or suspend the nation's debt limit, the Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday. The forecast puts added pressure on Congress and the Trump administration to address the borrowing cap, which restricts the total amount of money that the United States is authorized to borrow to fund the government and meet its financial obligations. A protracted standoff later this year could rattle markets and complicate President Trump's plans to enact more tax cuts. The C.B.O. noted that its forecast is subject to uncertainty over how much tax revenue the federal government will collect this year. It expects that the United States will have sufficient funds to keep paying bills through August or September. However, it said that if borrowing needs exceed its projections, the U.S. could run out of cash by late May or sometime in June. 'The projected exhaustion date is uncertain because the timing and amount of revenue collections and outlays over the intervening months could differ from C.B.O.'s projections,' the budget office said in a report. The so-called X-date is the moment when the United States is unable to pay its bills, including interest payments to investors who hold government debt. Failure to meet those obligations could result in the United States defaulting on its debt. The U.S. has never defaulted on its debt, which is considered one of the safest investments in the world, and brinkmanship over missed payments could be economically damaging. The national debt is now approaching $37 trillion. Lawmakers agreed in June 2023 to suspend the $31.4 trillion debt limit until Jan. 1, 2025. Janet L. Yellen, the Treasury secretary under President Joseph R. Biden Jr., told Congress in mid-January that the Treasury Department would need to start using 'extraordinary measures' on Jan. 21 to allow the United States to keep meeting its financial obligations. Those measures are essentially accounting maneuvers that can prevent the government from breaching the debt limit. They can include suspending certain types of investments in savings plans for government workers. But eventually the Treasury will exhaust those maneuvers, and the debt limit will need to either be lifted or suspended in order for the federal government to continue funding its obligations Because the federal government runs budget deficits — meaning it spends more than it brings in through taxes and other revenue — it must borrow huge sums of money to pay its bills. Those obligations include funding for social safety net programs, salaries for members of the armed forces and paying investors who have bought U.S. government debt in exchange for interest payments. Republicans have been cutting federal jobs at government agencies and expressed a commitment to curbing wasteful spending. But those efforts are unlikely to make much of a dent given that the biggest drivers of the debt are social safety net programs like Medicare and Social Security. Lawmakers have shown little appetite for cutting those politically popular programs. Before taking office this year, Mr. Trump called for abolishing the debt limit and warned that it was a trap left by Democrats to derail his agenda. The C.B.O. estimate follows a projection earlier this week by the Bipartisan Policy Center, which said that the United States could run out of cash sometime between mid-July and early October. Turmoil at the Internal Revenue Service — including pushing out thousands of probationary employees — has stalled audits and hampered its efforts to collect taxes, according to agency officials, raising concerns that the government may collect less tax revenue this year than expected. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmaker this month that he plans to provide Congress with an X-date forecast in May.
