Proposed Federal Role in Catastrophe Insurance Would Increase Earthquake Coverage

A proposal for the federal government to support state-run catastrophe-insurance programs would increase the number of people buying earthquake coverage in California and modestly lower both uninsured losses and government assistance following a major quake, a new study has found. Only about 12 percent of insured households in California currently have earthquake insurance, which means that a large portion of property loss would be uninsured following a major earthquake.