Sec. 5. General authority and administration of claims
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The Secretary shall have the powers and authorities necessary to carry out the Program, including authority— to investigate and audit all claims under the Program; and to prescribe regulations and procedures to effectively administer and implement the Program, and to ensure that all participating insurers and self-insured entities are treated comparably under the Program. The Secretary may issue interim final rules or procedures specifying the manner in which— insurers may file and certify claims under the Program; the Federal share of compensation for insured losses will be paid under the Program, including payments based on estimates of or actual insured losses; the Secretary may, at any time, seek repayment from or reimburse any insurer, based on estimates of insured losses under the Program, to effectuate the insured loss sharing provisions in section 4; and the Secretary will determine any final netting of payments under the Program, including payments owed to the Federal Government from any insurer and any Federal share of compensation for insured losses owed to any insurer, to effectuate the insured loss sharing provisions in section 4.
The Secretary shall consult with the NAIC, as the Secretary determines appropriate, concerning the Program. The Secretary may employ persons or contract for services as may be necessary to implement the Program. The Secretary shall annually compile information on the business interruption insurance premium rates of insurers for the preceding year. To the extent that such information is not otherwise available to the Secretary, the Secretary may require each insurer to submit to the NAIC business interruption insurance premium rates, as necessary to carry out paragraph (1), and the NAIC shall make such information available to the Secretary.
The Secretary shall make information compiled under this subsection available to the Congress, upon request. Beginning upon the date of the enactment of this Act, in each calendar year, the Secretary shall require participating insurers to submit to the Secretary such information regarding losses of such insurers, under insurance coverage for business interruption, resulting from public health emergencies as the Secretary considers appropriate to analyze the effectiveness of the Program, which shall include information regarding— lines of insurance with exposure to such losses; premiums earned on such coverage; geographical location of exposures; pricing of such coverage; the take-up rate for such coverage; the amount of private reinsurance for losses resulting from public health emergencies purchased; and such other matters as the Secretary considers appropriate.
Not later than one year after the date of the enactment of this Act and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall submit a report to the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate that includes— an analysis of the overall effectiveness of the Program; an evaluation of the availability and affordability of business interruption insurance for losses resulting from public health emergencies; an evaluation of any changes or trends in the data collected under paragraph (1); an evaluation of whether any aspects of the Program have the effect of discouraging or impeding insurers from providing business interruption insurance coverage or coverage for public health emergencies; an evaluation of the impact of the Program on workers’ compensation insurers; and in the case of the data reported in paragraph (1)(B), an updated estimate of the total amount earned since the first January 1 occurring after the date of the enactment of this Act.
To the extent possible, the Secretary shall contract with an insurance statistical aggregator to collect the information described in paragraph (1), which shall keep any nonpublic information confidential and provide it to the Secretary in an aggregate form or in such other form or manner that does not permit identification of the insurer submitting such information. Before collecting any data or information under paragraph
(1)from an insurer, or affiliate of an insurer, the Secretary shall coordinate with the appropriate State insurance regulatory authorities and any relevant government agency or publicly available sources to determine if the information to be collected is available from, and may be obtained in a timely manner by, individually or collectively, such entities. If the Secretary determines that such data or information is available, and may be obtained in a timely matter, from such entities, the Secretary shall obtain the data or information from such entities. If the Secretary determines that such data or information is not so available, the Secretary may collect such data or information from an insurer and affiliates. The submission of any non-publicly available data and information to the Secretary and the sharing of any non-publicly available data with or by the Secretary among other Federal agencies, the State insurance regulatory authorities, or any other entities under this subsection shall not constitute a waiver of, or otherwise affect, any privilege arising under Federal or State law (including the rules of any Federal or State court) to which the data or information is otherwise subject. Any requirement under Federal or State law to the extent otherwise applicable, or any requirement pursuant to a written agreement in effect between the original source of any non-publicly available data or information and the source of such data or information to the Secretary, regarding the privacy or confidentiality of any data or information in the possession of the source to the Secretary, shall continue to apply to such data or information after the data or information has been provided pursuant to this subsection. Any data or information obtained by the Secretary under this subsection may be made available to State insurance regulatory authorities, individually or collectively, through an information-sharing agreement that— shall comply with applicable Federal law; and shall not constitute a waiver of, or otherwise affect, any privilege under Federal or State law (including any privilege referred to in subparagraph
(A)and the rules of any Federal or State court) to which the data or information is otherwise subject. Section 552 of title 5, United States Code, including any exceptions thereunder, shall apply to any data or information submitted under this subsection to the Secretary by an insurer or affiliate of an insurer.