Community Safety &
Attack the Root Causes
of Spiking Costs

The Problem

Insurance premiums don't spike in a vacuum. They're driven by real underlying costs — costs that no one in state government is doing enough to identify, expose, and attack. From infrastructure failures that enable catastrophic fires to fraudulent claims that inflate costs across every line of insurance, these root causes are passed directly to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

The Pacific Palisades fire was avoidable. It was the result of failures by state, county, and city leaders — dry hydrants, unfilled reservoirs, disabled firetrucks from budget cuts. These preventable failures don't just destroy communities; they drive up insurance costs for every Californian.

Champion Home Hardening

Protecting homes from fire starts before the fire. Under Merritt's leadership, the Department of Insurance will aggressively support home hardening efforts that help protect homes from wildfire — fire-resistant roofing, ember-proof vents, defensible space, and the building standards that can mean the difference between a home that survives and one that doesn't.

Set Minimum Community Fire Safety Standards

Individual homeowners can't protect their homes alone when their community's fire infrastructure fails. Merritt will establish minimum community fire safety standards that cities and counties are required to meet:

• Ensure water and water pressure in fire hydrants — so firefighters actually have the resources to fight fires when they arrive.
• Require reservoirs counted on for fire safety to be filled — no more empty reservoirs when communities need them most.
• Prevent disabled firetrucks from budget cuts — stop the thoughtless cutting of fire department budgets that leaves equipment unable to respond.
• Hold cities and counties accountable — communities that don't meet minimum safety standards put their residents at risk and drive up costs for everyone.

Attack the Cost Drivers

With Merritt as its leader, the Department of Insurance will increase affordability across all insurance lines through aggressive cost reduction — digging out and exposing the underlying costs that are driving insurers to raise prices:

• Fraudulent workers' comp claims — a multi-billion-dollar drain on the system that honest businesses and their employees pay for.
• Cozy deals in health insurance — exposing the arrangements between prescription drug insurance plans, drug makers, and pharmacy chains that inflate costs for consumers.
• Infrastructure negligence — holding government entities accountable when their failures lead to preventable disasters and higher premiums.
• Systemic fraud across all lines — from staged auto accidents to inflated medical claims, fraud costs every policyholder.

What This Means for You

For California families: safer communities, better-protected homes, and lower premiums driven by actually solving the problems that cause costs to rise. For California businesses: reduced fraud-driven costs, a more stable insurance environment, and a Department of Insurance that fights as hard for affordability as it does for compliance.