U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito, alongside Senator Bill Cassidy and eight other Republican senators, has called for the end of the Biden Administration’s Risk Rating 2.0 policy. This policy, implemented by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is criticized for causing a significant increase in flood insurance premiums.
The senators expressed concerns over the impact of Risk Rating 2.0 on homeowners nationwide, stating, “Since the Biden Administration’s rollout of Risk Rating 2.0, premiums under the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) increased in every state. By FEMA’s own estimates, 77 percent of all NFIP policies now pay more than under the old system.”
They further highlighted issues with transparency regarding the policy: “The lack of transparency surrounding Risk Rating 2.0 is beyond troubling. FEMA has never allowed for meaningful public comment nor has it published the underlying data or assumptions used to justify the steep premium increases and refuses to disclose its actuarial model.”
The letter addressed to Acting Administrator Richardson emphasized that since President Biden’s executive orders in early 2021, which laid the groundwork for this new rating system enacted on October 1, 2021, many states have experienced drastic premium increases.
For instance, Louisiana saw an estimated 80% of its NFIP policyholders facing monthly premium hikes in 2025 due to Risk Rating 2.0. In West Virginia and Texas, similar patterns were observed with significant percentages of policyholders affected by rising costs.
Senators are urging immediate action to halt further premium increases and seek greater transparency from FEMA: “To limit the damage caused by this harmful Biden era policy,” they wrote, calling for measures including directing FEMA to terminate Risk Rating 2.0 pricing methodology and requiring publication of actuarial inputs and outputs related to future premium increases.
As communities face economic strain due to these changes, senators warn that continued implementation could lead more families to abandon their insurance coverage and put entire neighborhoods at risk after disasters.
