Crop Insurers Sue Over Govt Subsidies
Thursday, June 17th, 2004 Legislation & Regulation Litigation PropertyA coalition of insurance companies filed a lawsuit in a U.S. District Court in Council Bluffs, Iowa, against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, claiming the government has shortchanged them millions of dollars in a program to provide crop insurance to farmers. The lawsuit, and a separate disagreement over new terms set by USDA for the Federal Crop Insurance Program, are the latest battles between the crop insurance industry and the government. Taxpayers subsidize the program to help farmers who lose crops to natural disasters such as the flooding, hail and tornadoes that struck across a large swath of the Midwest this spring. The result is lower premiums for farmers, but insurance companies complain they aren't reimbursed adequately by the government.
