| Washington, DC -- Congressman
Earl Pomeroy joined Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE) in calling on
terrorism insurance conferees to provide life insurance coverage for
"first responders", such as fire fighters, police officers and
emergency medical personnel.
"I urge the conferees to include coverage for "first responders". These men and women put their lives on the line for the rest of us. Group life insurance must be available and affordable for these lifesavers," said Pomeroy. The terrorist attacks of 9/11 have cost insurance companies an incredible amount of money in life insurance and property loss claims. As a result, insurance companies are unwilling to provide coverage against property and casualty losses resulting from "acts of terrorism". Employers of the people at greatest risk for such acts--"first responders"---are discovering that group life insurance coverage is either unavailable, much more expensive, or written to pay only a fraction of the policy value. Terrorism risk insurance legislation is now in House-Senate conference. It would provide ]funding to help insurance companies cover property and casualty claims if there was ever another terrorist attack, however, coverage for "first responders" is not included. The House and Senate have each passed their own version of the bill. House and Senate Conferees are still in negotiations to work out the differences. The President has suggested Congress come up with an agreement by Friday at the latest.
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