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Are Critical Infrastructure Issues Finally Being Addressed?

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The recent collapse of an Interstate 75 overpass in Cincinnati, killing a worker and injuring a truck driver, is yet another reminder of the plight of America’s infrastructure, which is estimated to require billions of dollars to bring up to 2015 standards.

The bridge that collapsed had been replaced and was being torn down as part of an extended project to increase capacity on a congested, accident-prone section of the interstate, according to the Associated Press.

President Obama, speaking today in Saint Paul, Minnesota, outlined several proposals, including launching a competition for $600 million in competitive transportation funding and investing in America’s infrastructure with a $302 billion, four-year surface transportation reauthorization proposal, according to a press release from the White House. Obama also plans to “put more Americans back to work repairing and modernizing our roads, bridges, railways, and transit systems, and will also work with Congress to act to ensure critical transportation programs continue to be funded and do not expire later this year.”

More and more, states are finding ways to fund infrastructure repair. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for example, in his State of the State address, proposed $3 billion in loans and grants for infrastructure upgrades, including $1.3 billion for the Thruway and the new Tappan Zee Bridge, which is under construction. The money, he said, would come from a a $5.4 billion windfall from bank settlements.

A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), “Failure to Act: The Impact of Current Infrastructure Investment on American’s Economic Future,” found that the cascading impact of putting off repairs affects the entire economy. The report concluded that, between 2013 and 2020, there will be an investment gap of about $846 billion in surface transportation.

At risk are a number of bridges and overpasses. According to Risk Management magazine:

“Right now, 11% of our bridges across the country are rated structurally deficient and another 13% are considered functionally obsolete,” Andrew W. Herrmann, 2012 president of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and principal with Hardesty & Hanover LLP, an infrastructure engineering firm. “This means they were designed to an older standard, so they may not have the same lane widths or turning radius or may have been designed to carry lesser loads.”

Deterioration of the nation’s infrastructure jeopardizes public safety, threatens quality of life, and drains the U.S. economy. “If they have to start closing down, restricting or putting mileage postings on bridges, the economy will be affected,” said Herrmann, who served on the advisory council for the 2003, 2005 and 2013 report cards and chaired the council for the 2009 edition.

“Bridges are the most pressing need in the infrastructure overall. You can have all the roads and highways you want, but if you don’t have the bridges to cross the rivers and intersections, it slows everything down.”

He observed that, from a bridge engineer’s perspective, investments need to be made to keep bridges in good repair. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) estimates that it needs $20.5 billion annually to eliminate the nation’s backlog of bridge repairs by 2028, but only $12.8 billion has been budgeted. The challenge, then, for federal, state and local governments is to increase investments in bridges by $8 billion annually.

What the 2015 State of the Union Means for Risk Managers

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state of the union 2015

Last night, President Obama delivered the annual State of the Union. Unsurprisingly, the speech covered a variety of topics ranging from foreign affairs to civil rights to climate change. While these issues may ultimately have little impact on the insurance industry or risk management, there were two topics raised that could be of significant interest.

The first relates to tax reform:

“As Americans, we don’t mind paying our fair share of taxes, as long as everybody else does, too. But for far too long, lobbyists have rigged the tax code with loopholes that let some corporations pay nothing while others pay full freight. They’ve riddled it with giveaways the superrich don’t need, denying a break to middle class families who do,” Obama said.

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For the past few years, the Obama administration’s annual budget proposal has included a measure that would deny a tax deduction for certain reinsurance premiums paid to foreign-based affiliates by domestic insurers. While the administration and some members of Congress deem this deduction a “loophole,” it is actually a commonly used and effective risk management tool.

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Doing away with this particular “loophole” would force the industry as a whole to reduce the size and scope of its U.S. offerings. A previous economic impact study found that this proposal would reduce the net supply of reinsurance in the United States by 20%, thus increasing prices by to billion annually for the same coverage.

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If Congress does take up comprehensive tax reform, this is certainly an initiative that many in the industry will need to keep an eye on.

The other issue is cybersecurity:

“And tonight, I urge this Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to better meet the evolving threat of cyberattacks, combat identity theft, and protect our children’s information. If we don’t act, we’ll leave our nation and our economy vulnerable. If we do, we can continue to protect the technologies that have unleashed untold opportunities for people around the globe,” the president said.

Cybersecurity and the management of cyberrisks is certainly one of the hottest topics in the industry. While it remains unclear what proposed legislation will look like, we will almost certainly see at least one major piece of cybersecurity legislation introduced in the next few months. Previous efforts have focused on information-sharing. With the number of attacks and damage inflicted only increasing, however, it is quite possible that new legislation may be even broader in scope.

It is also important to note that simply including something in a State of the Union address does not always translate into real action. It is quite possible that tax reform will get tabled again as various factions are unable to agree. It’s also possible that Congress will be unable to come up with a cybersecurity bill that achieves many of its goals without undermining the privacy or personal security of individuals. It is, however, an overview of the administration’s priorities for the coming year, and that does still carry some weight.

Obama Calls Attention to Aging Infrastructure

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Tappan Zee Bridge. Photo by Laura Glickstein

President Obama is visiting the Tappan Zee Bridge, 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, on Wednesday to raise awareness of the nation’s crumbling infrastructure. The message is that funding for projects such as roads and bridges is to expire this fall.

The president’s speech will highlight the need for congressional action on infrastructure spending, the White House announced on Saturday. Obama will use his visit to the bridge site, where work is underway on pilings for a new bridge, to highlight the urgency of replenishing the Highway Trust Fund. The administration predicts the fund will be insolvent by the end of the summer.

Refurbishing the infrastructure is critical, as the American Society of Civil Engineers grades for U.S. infrastructure systems are low. Last fall the organization gave road and transit systems a D, bridges a C+, and levees a D-.

According to The White House Blog funding for infrastructure impacts more than 112,000 active projects to pave roads and build bridges, and about 5,600 projects to improve the country’s transit systems. This doesn’t include almost 700,000 jobs supported by these projects.

The White House plans several infrastructure-themed events, which began with the release of a report on Monday that lays out its argument for infrastructure investment and the ensuing funding crisis if Congress fails to act.

While construction is underway to replace the 58-year-old Tappan Zee Bridge, a $3.9 billion project recently approved for a $1.6 billion federal loan—the largest loan ever awarded under the Transportation Infrastructure and Innovation Act (TIFIA)—the administration is warning that other projects could be halted, slowed or not began in the coming months.

“We have reports that many states are already rethinking their investment plans due to the uncertainty,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx told a Senate committee last week. Foxx pointed out that one-in-four bridges either needs significant repair or cannot handle current traffic, and that 65% of the nation’s roads are not adequate.

Foxx told the Senate that the administration is open to a variety of possibilities for raising new revenue to finance the Highway Trust Fund. The administration has proposed a one-time infusion of $150 billion into the fund, using revenue generated by corporate tax reform. The proposal, called the GROW AMERICA Act would provide $302 billion over four years for highways, bridges, transit, and rail systems, according to the blog.

CVS Announces Plan to Stop Selling Cigarettes

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CVS to Stop Selling Cigarettes

On Feb. 5, CVS Caremark Chief Executive Larry Merlo said, “We’ve come to the decision that cigarettes have no place in an environment where healthcare is being delivered.” The company, he announced, will remove all cigarette and tobacco products from its 7,600 pharmacies nationwide by Oct. 1. The move is expensive, with up to $2 billion in projected lost sales. But CVS is betting on the long-run gains from doubling down on brand reputation and helping customers to live—and shop—far longer.

President Barack Obama personally took the time out to praise CVS, saying in a statement that the move will help wider efforts to “reduce tobacco-related deaths, cancer, and heart disease, as well as bring down healthcare costs.”

“CVS is now one of a small group of companies that have realized that their reputation is the most valuable asset they have and that building a stronger reputation by avoiding risks to that reputation can create a significant competitive advantage,” said Paul Argenti, professor of corporate communications at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business, in a column for the Harvard Business Review. “From the White House to the American Lung Association, CVS has received kudos for what seems to be a focus on shared value with society rather than the reckless pursuit of revenue at any cost.”

While CVS stock initially dropped the day of the announcement, shares have since risen 2.3%, success further bolstered when the country’s largest drugstore chain reported 2013 revenue of $126.8 billion—up 3% on healthy growth for drug plans and in-store pharmacies offset by weak growth in front-of-store sales.

“Its profit comes increasingly from health plans, which aren’t keen on carcinogens,” Jack Hough wrote in Barron’s. “Consider: CVS’ tobacco decision is expected to subtract six to nine cents from its yearly earnings per share. But a prescription deal with the Federal Employee Health Program, which expires at year’s end, is worth 16 cents to 21 cents a share, estimates investment bank Mizuho Securities. For CVS, a good chance at renewal just became better, and there’s plenty more business to be won.”

In Forbes’ CMO Shift blog, brand consultant Scott Davis wrote:

The $2 billion decision to boldly dump tobacco sends CVS’ boldest signal of commitment to the brand and to where it sees its future growth; it’s an unprecedented move and one that is wickedly smart. CVS is putting its money where its brand is, betting that this first mover advantage will pay off. I say “first mover” because no one truly owns health and wellness. Sixteen thousand health and wellness apps were downloaded last year. Over $1.4 billion was spent by people trying to learn more about the topic. The overall category is heading to $1 trillion in the next 3-5 years and the timing is right for someone to step in and lead the dialog and become the Amazon of health and wellness. Why not CVS?

Indeed, CVS has spent considerable time and money extending the legacy of pharmacists as community health experts by adding over 800 MinuteClinic walk-in facilities. In doing so, the company has become the largest U.S. pharmacy healthcare provider.

The chain’s competitors are also branching into anti-smoking efforts as they expand their role in the wellness market. Walgreens recently unveiled a partnership with GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare to launch a free, Internet-based smoking cessation program called Sponsorship to Quit.

Overall U.S. cigarette sales fell 31.3% from 2003 to 2013, according to Euromonitor International. Many health officials hope that the move will help continue to decrease the number of smokers and smoking-related deaths in the U.S. “I think CVS recognized that it was just paradoxical to be both a seller of deadly products and a healthcare provider,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Thomas Frieden told Reuters.

Working to build and maintain a strong reputation also boosts the bottom line. Studies from Argenti and a range of other researchers suggest that companies with a strong reputation enjoy price advantages, being able to negotiate lower prices with suppliers and higher charges to customers. They can also recruit better employees, have more stable revenues and, “when something bad happens, they are given the benefit of the doubt by their stakeholders.” Further, “highly reputed companies are more stable, which means they have higher market valuation and stock price over the long term and greater loyalty of their investors, which leads to less volatility,” according to Argenti.

Convenience stores account for 75% of cigarette sales nationwide, so the tobacco industry has yet to express concern about prospective losses from drugstore sales. But Dr. Richard Wender of the American Cancer Society said CVS’s move would have an effect. “Every time we make it more difficult to purchase a pack of cigarettes, someone quits,” he told Reuters. So far, CVS is betting on that for patients’ health, and its own.