The Home Insurance Crisis Could Use a Public Assist

At a moment when America’s home insurance crisis has become bad enough to turn conservatives into socialists, a possible solution may just involve — you guessed it — big government. And contra Ronald Reagan, in this case there’s reason to think the government truly can help.

To address soaring insurance premiums and coverage gaps in an age of worsening climate-fueled disasters, the Brookings Institution has proposed creating a federal reinsurance company to cover US home insurers. It would be, as proposal co-author Benjamin Keys of the Wharton School put it in a rollout event last week, a sort of “public option” for home insurance.