Top of mind: Best's Review's survey reveals taxes, health care and retirement are key issues for the industry in this year's presidential election.

Taxes, health care and retirement security top the list of issues insurance industry professionals would most like to see the presidential candidates address in the 2008 campaign, according to an exclusive Best's Review and BestWeek survey. Further, more than four out of five respondents dubbed those issues important to their lives and livelihoods.

The online survey drew responses from nearly 1,500 BestWeek and Best's Review subscribers, making it the most popular reader survey to date.

Drawing heavily from those in the agent/broker and property/casualty insurer communities, which each constituted about 40% of respondents, the survey showed tax policy remains high on readers' agendas during this election, with 88.3% calling the issue either "important" or"very important."

On the key issue of the estate tax, which is set to disappear in 2010 before returning in 2011 at a 55% rate with a $1 million exemption, 40.1% endorsed totally abolishing the tax. Another 36% endorsed moving to the leveis recommended to Congress by Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett--a 45% rate and $4 million exemption.

Estate tax repeal has been opposed by the American Council of Life Insurers but endorsed by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Life insurer employees constituted 8.3'% of responses. ACLI spokesman Jack Dolan said bis group was encouraged to see the importance respondents placed on retirement security as an issue, with 85.9% calling it important or very important.

Health insurance reform was considered a priority for 80.9% of respondents, with 67.9% throwing their support specifically behind plans to expand health savings accounts and other consumer-driven products.

Less popular were mandates for employers to offer or individuals to purchase health coverage, although more than a quarter of respondents actually endorsed the idea of singlepayer, government-provided health care.

"The popularity of health savings accounts was expected, but that that many in this audience would support single-payer, yes, that's somewhat surprising," Celent senior analyst Donald Light said. "A lot of people are not necessarily working in health insurance, so they may be responding there as citizens more than as people who write the business, or just as employers who pay benefits."

Former New York state Insurance Superintendent Howard Mills, chief adviser for the insurance industry group at Deloitte & Touche USA, said be was surprised disaster-preparedness issues weren't a higher priofity.

When asked about specific proposals to ease pficing problems in coastal property markets, adding wind coverage to the National Flood Insurance Program proved the most popular, with 45.2% responding favorably. Just over a third of respondents endorsed a federal backstop to state catastrophe funds or residual markets.

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"I'm a little surprised that it's as high as it is on expanding the flood program to include optional wind," Mills said.

Many expressed support for tougher building codes, some suggested rising premiums were necessary to discourage building in coastal regions.

"The homeowners not in a coastal area should not be subsidizing those who choose to live in disaster-prone areas such as a coastal barrier island," one respondent wrote. "These areas are big sand bars, which historically rise up out of the water and fall back in depending on storm damage. If someone chooses to live there, they should pay for the privilege."

Also drawing relatively little support as a top issue is insurance regulatory reform. A plurality opposed an optional federal insurance charter. Just 22.8% of respondents called regulatory reforma "very important" issue, the lowest of the five options, while 8.2% declared it "not important," the highest of the options.

Some OFC proponents saw a silver lining in the fact that 39.4% of respondents said they were "neither more nor less likely" to vote for a candidate based on their OFC position. Eli Lehrer, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said this suggested many in the industry remained undecided.

"This shows that despite that it's been a much-discussed issue, a lot of people really haven't made up their minds," Lehrer said."Everyone's going to be affected, so it looks like there's room for both sides to get their message out, that people involved in the policy issues aren't really reaching the public."

Speaking Out on National Election Issues

Insurance professionals surveyed about this year's national elections said the positions that presidential candidates take on tax policy, health care and retirement security are among the factors most likely to influence their vote. They spoke out strongly in favor of repealing the estate tax and expanding consumer-driven health care options. As for what it will take to make homeowners coverage more available along the coast, those surveyed said the National Flood Insurance Program should be expanded to include optional wind coverage and insurers should be allowed to reserve for catastrophes tax-free. Nearly 1,500 BestWeek and Best's Review subscribers, primarily independent agents, brokers and property/casualty insurers, responded to an electronic survey conducted in January and February.

Presidential Candidates on Health Care

Voters in 24 states--including the delegate-rich states of California, New York, Illinois, Georgia, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Arizona, Tennessee and Missouri--headed to the polls Feb. 5 in the largest single "Super Tuesday" primary event in American history.

Prior to Super Tuesday, both major parties lost one of their contenders. Democrat John Edwards, former senator from North Carolina, who had proposed universal health care, dropped out of the race Jan. 30; and Republican Rudolph Giuliani, former mayor of New York, who touted private-market solutions and tax cuts to reform health care, left the face the same day. That leaves just four major candidates to square off in the few remaining primary contests until convention time later this summer.

Arizona Sen. John McCain seems assured of receiving the Republican nomination, although challenger Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, continued to show surprising strength in Super Tuesday and the following week's so-called Potomac Primary of Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C. For the Democrats, though, the battle between N.Y. Sen. Hillary Clinton and III. Sen. Barack Obama couldn't be more fierce as neither is the clear front-runner and they remain neck and neck in delegate totals.

Here, Best's Review offers a breakdown, based on the candidates' public statements, Web site materiais and position papers, of how they compare on the hotbutton issue of health care, and the need to cover the 47 million Americans who are uninsured.

How important is it for the next president
to address the following areas?
%

                        Not          Somewhat                    Very
                        Important   Important   Important   Important

Tax Policy                    1.5        10.2        35.0        53.3
Retirement Security           2.4        11.7        36.8        49.1
Health Care                   4.1        15.0        29.0        51.9
Disaster Preparedness         3.0        18.1        45.1        33.9
Regulatory Reform             8.2        31.4        37.6        22.8

How important is it for the next president to address the
following areas?
%

                                Not    Somewhat                    Very
                          Important   Important   Important   Important

Fighting the "war on           13.4        18.5        28.9        39.2
  terrorism"
Collateral requirements        18.1        25.7        36.7        19.4
  for alien reinsurers
International                  18.4        26.7        36.2        18.7
  accounting
  standards
Taxation of offshore           22.9        28.0        33.1        16.0
  insurers and
  reinsurers
Trade agreements that          26.5        23.4        33.8        16.3
  open new markets to
  U.S. companies

              Hillary Clinton        Barack Obama

Purchasing    Nationwide pool        "National Health Insurance
pools         based on Health        Exchange," open to all busi-
              Benefits Program       nesses, all individuals

Tax credits   Small employers and    Income subsidies offered to
              individuals whose      those purchasing through NHIE
              premiums exceed a
              set threshold

Benefit       Would impose federal   NHIE policies would have to meet
mandates      benefit mandates       federal mandates, minimum loss
              nationwide, minimum    ratio, would keep children on
              loss ratio, require    parents' plan until age 25
              preventive care
              coverage

Purchase      All individuals; pay   Mandate for all children; pay or
mandates      or play for large      play for all employers
              employers

Government    Medicare-type plan     A basis plan would be available
plan          would compete with     for all through the NHIE
              private plans

              Mike Huckabee          John McCain

Purchasing    None                   Association health plans
pools

Tax credits   Credits for lower      Would eliminate employer-sponsored
              income individuals,    tax exclusion, replaced with
              deductions for all     $2,500 credit for individuals and
                                     $5,000 for families

Benefit       Portable insurance,    None
mandates      encourages but does
              not mandate wellness
              and preventive care
              programs

Purchase      None                   None
mandates

Government    No new plans           Would allow Medicaid and
plan                                 S-CHIP funds to be used to
                                     purchase private coverage

Which of the following would help solve
the coastal affordability crisis?

Expand the National Flood Insurance         45.2
Program to include optional wind coverage

Allow insurers to take reserves for         42.8
catastrophes tax-free

Allow companies to charge whatever          39.5
rates the market will bear

A federal backstop to state catastrophe     34.7
funds and/or residual markets

Create tax-advantaged homeowners            32.5
savings accounts, similar to health
savings accounts

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Which of the following health-care reform
proposals would you support?

Expand health savings accounts             67.9
and other consumer-driven products

Allow insurance policies to be sold
across state tines                         39.3

Single payer government health insurance   27.5
Require all employers to offer insurance   25.4

Mandate that every American maintain       22.0
insurance coverage

Note: Table made from bar graph.

What do you think should be done with
the estate tax?

The estate tax should be repealed    40.1

Warren Buffett's recommendation--a   36.0
45% rate and $4 million exemption

Kept at 2007 levels,                 16.4
45% rate with $2 million exemption

Kept at 2011 levels,
55% rate with $1 million exception    7.5

Note: Table made from bar graph.

How likely are you to support a candidate
who endorses an optional federal regulator?

Less likely                    41.2
Neither more nor less likely   39.4
More likely                    19.4

Note: Table made from bar graph.

Is illegal immigration an issue for
your business?

It is not an issue for our business            59.0
It is an issue, but not terribly significant   25.9
It is a significant issue                      15.1

Note: Table made from bar graph.