GMA Anchor Slams Insurance Industry Profits; Highlights Calls for More Regulation

On the Tuesday edition of “Good Morning America,” host Robin Roberts slammed the insurance industry for daring to make a profit in the years since Hurricane Katrina. She also used the segment as a vehicle to call for more government regulations. The piece, combatively titled “GMA Gets It Done: Getting Answers” suggested the subjective, advocacy oriented slant that the program would take. (Additionally, last week, Diane Sawyer previewed the multi-day story, describing it as “a call to arms.”)

Roberts repeatedly took insurance company representative Bob Hartwig to task for the industry’s “record profits.” A sampling of Roberts’ hostile questioning can be found below:

Robin Roberts: “When people who have lost everything, who are in dispute with various insurance companies and they see the amount of money that-- the profit that is being made in such a year, these home owners scratch their heads a little bit. Do you understand?”

Roberts: “Though people find it hard to believe during such a devastating year, you still make a significant increase in your profit. And they’re saying, ‘Good grief, we trusted you.’”

Roberts: “You know that rings hollow, what you just said, to so many people. They don't believe that anymore.”

Roberts began the segment, which aired at 7:45am on February 20, by recounting some very real, and obviously sad, cases of Katrina victims who have had problems with their insurance companies. However, when she talked with Mr. Hartwig, President of the Insurance Information Institute, the ABC host seemed more interested in how wrong it was for the industry to be making profits during such a difficult time:

Roberts: “Paul and Julie Leonard whose home suffered $100,000 in damages have also sought help in court. The judge in their first trial ruled their Nationwide policy did not cover storm surge damages caused by the hurricane. They are appealing and so far they have received only $1200. Still, the insurance industry maintains for the most part, Katrina claims have been settled amicably. Bob Hartwig represents the insurance industry, the major insurance companies we contacted, declined to be interviewed.”

Bob Hartwig (President, Insurance Information Institute): “The insurance industry responded admirably to the unprecedented disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Through that disaster, insurers paid $1.74 million claims valued at $41 billion dollars.”

Roberts: “But despite weathering the worst national disaster in history, critics point out, the insurance companies made record profits in 2005, $49 billion, in fact, growing to $60 billion last year. When people who have lost everything, who are in dispute with various insurance companies and they see the amount of money that-- the profit that is being made in such a year, these home owners scratch their heads a little bit. Do you understand?”

Hartwig: “Oh, I understand. But insurers have earned profits in other states, in other types of insurance. None of the profits in 2005, for example, were earned in the state of Mississippi. They were earned on auto insurance in Ohio, or workman compensation coverage in Oregon.”

Roberts: “The record profits, the reports of denied claims, have some in Congress calling foul.”

Gene Taylor: “Their behavior is just shameful.”

Roberts: “Congressman Gene Taylor's home was among those destroyed and whose insurance claim was denied. He wants the federal government to have more control over an industry he says has gone out of its way to deny claims. Congress will hold hearings on the issue next week.”

After allowing Democratic Congressman Taylor, whose party affiliation was only mentioned in an onscreen graphic, not by Roberts, to push for more government control over the insurance agency, the co-host proceeded to focus on industry profits and repeatedly asked the same question:

Taylor (D-Mississippi): “If you’re going to tell a federal judge that can't read his policy, if you’re going to tell a U.S. Senator who is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Law School that they can't read policy, what kind of chance does an average Joe have?”

Roberts: “Though people find it hard to believe during such a devastating year, you still make a significant increase in your profit. And they’re saying, ‘Good grief, we trusted you.’”

Hartwig: “And insurers are an industry that has responded compassionately to the individuals who were affected by those storms. Insurance is the best, most efficient means for recovery from natural disasters. That has been demonstrated time and time again.”

Roberts: “You know that rings hollow, what you just said, to so many people. They don't believe that anymore.” Hartwig: “Well, the proof is, if you travel throughout the region, as you have and as I have, you can see rebuilding of homes and businesses, hundreds of thousands of them.”

 Roberts: “With a court date later this year, the Beckhams hope they will prevail and join in the rebuilding.”

Jim Beckham: “I have never sued anyone in my life up until this point. But I feel like that's the only way I'm going to get what's owed me.”

Roberts: “And that's a feeling shared by many in this region here in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And full disclosure here, to be fair, you are understanding [sic] that my family was very much affected by Hurricane Katrina. Our home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, my mother's home was insured and she did receive payment for wind damage and further payment for other damages is still pending.”

First off, it seems as though GMA anchors are tougher on the insurance industry then they are on dictators. This is, after all, a program which spent the past two weeks airing chummy, not-very-challenging interviews with Middle Eastern dictators. Can anyone imagine co-host Diane Sawyer essentially calling Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a liar and telling him that his statements “ring hollow?”

Secondly, although Ms. Roberts has discussed her family’s connection to Hurricane Katrina in the past, shouldn’t a professional journalist report such a personal, emotional link up front and not leave it to the very end of the segment? Ken Shepherd, a colleague over at the Business and Media Institute, picked up on this breach in a Febuary 20 column:

"'And full disclosure here, to be fair, you are understanding [sic] that my family was very much affected by Hurricane Katrina,' Roberts admitted at the end of her report. 'Our home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, my mother's home was insured and she did receive payment for wind damage and further payment for other damages is still pending,' the Gulf Coast native concluded her report from New Orleans.

The Society of Professional Journalists’ Code of Ethics urges journalists to 'Avoid conflicts of interest, real or perceived.' Roberts’ personal interest in the story was obviously quite real, and her story was just as obviously slanted."

A transcript of the February 20 segment follows:

ABC Graphic: “GMA Gets it Done: Getting Answers: Insurance Company Battles”

 Robin Roberts: “As part of our series, ‘GMA Gets It Done,’ we have promised to get you answers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. You know, we've heard from so many viewers who have asked, do the people here in this area, here in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast, do they feel that they have been forgotten by the rest of the country? And the answer is, many of them do. And part of the problem is, the reason they feel that way is because of the legal limbo that they are in. They are still waiting for the insurance companies to do what they thought they were promised to do, and that is cover them. And we found a lot of frustration.”

Unidentified Family #1: “When you lose everything that you own, you know, you're relying on your insurance company to help you pick up the pieces.”

Unidentified Family #2: “If we just got some money from the insurance, and be able to get settled, we wouldn't have to go through this prolonged stress.”

Roberts: “A year and a half after Katrina battered the Gulf Coast, thousands of residents are still in the midst of a storm, a legal storm. All that's left of Jim and Jody Beckham’s once half million dollar home is this concrete slab. They lost everything.”

Jim Beckham: “We used to sit up on the balcony on the outside and watch the fireworks.”

Roberts: “Loyal State Farm policy holders for 35 years, the Beckhams have not received a cent from their all-risk policy, which turns out excludes flood damage. State Farm denied their claim, concluding the damages were from water and not related to the 140 mile per-hour winds of Katrina. Something they and their lawyers say were not told by their adjustor who examined their house.”

Jim Beckham: “I never once heard him say a word about water. It was always the wind destroyed this and the wind destroyed that.”

Roberts: “Paul and Julie Leonard whose home suffered $100,000 in damages have also sought help in court. The judge in their first trial ruled their Nationwide policy did not cover storm surge damages caused by the hurricane. They are appealing and so far they have received only $1200. Still, the insurance industry maintains for the most part, Katrina claims have been settled amicably. Bob Hartwig represents the insurance industry, the major insurance companies we contacted, declined to be interviewed.”

Bob Hartwig (President, Insurance Information Institute): “The insurance industry responded admirably to the unprecedented disaster that was Hurricane Katrina. Through that disaster, insurers paid $1.74 million claims valued at $41 billion dollars.”

Roberts: “But despite weathering the worst national disaster in history, critics point out, the insurance companies made record profits in 2005, $49 billion, in fact, growing to $60 billion last year.When people who have lost everything, who are in dispute with various insurance companies and they see the amount of money that--the profit that is being made in such a year, these home owners scratch their heads a little bit. Do you understand?”

Hartwig: “Oh, I understand. But insurers have earned profits in other states in other types of insurance. None of the profits in 2005, for example, were earned in the state of Mississippi. They were earned on auto insurance in Ohio, or workman compensation coverage in Oregon.”

Roberts: “The record profits, the reports of denied claims, have some in Congress calling foul.”

 Gene Taylor: “Their behavior is just shameful.”

Roberts: “Congressman Gene Taylor's home was among those destroyed and whose insurance claim was denied. He wants the federal government to have more control over an industry he says has gone out of its way to deny claims. Congress will hold hearings on the issue next week.”

Taylor (D-Mississippi): “If you’re going to tell a federal judge that can't read his policy, if you’re going to tell a U.S. Senator who is a graduate of the University of Mississippi Law School that they can't read policy, what kind of chance does an average Joe have?”

Roberts: “Though people find it hard to believe during such a devastating year, you still make a significant increase in your profit. And they’re saying, ‘Good grief, we trusted you.’”

Hartwig: “And insurers are an industry that has responded compassionately to the individuals who were affected by those storms. Insurance is the best, most efficient means for recovery from natural disasters. That has been demonstrated time and time again.”

Roberts: “You know that rings hollow, what you just said, to so many people. They don't believe that anymore.”

Hartwig: “Well, the proof is, if you travel throughout the region, as you have and as I have, you can see rebuilding of homes and businesses, hundreds of thousands of them.”

Roberts: “With a court date later this year, the Beckhams hope they will prevail and join in the rebuilding.”

Jim Beckham: “I have never sued anyone in my life up until this point. But I feel like that's the only way I'm going to get what's owed me.”

Roberts: “And that's a feeling shared by many in this region here in New Orleans and along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And full disclosure here, to be fair, you are understanding [sic] that my family was very much affected by Hurricane Katrina. Our home in Pass Christian, Mississippi, my mother's home was insured and she did receive payment for wind damage and further payment for other damages is still pending.”