CROP INSURANCE PROVIDER EVALUATION.

SEC. 118. CROP INSURANCE PROVIDER EVALUATION. (a) In General.— The Comptroller General of the United States and the Federal Crop Insurance Corporation (referred to in this section as the “Corporation”) shall jointly evaluate the financial arrangement between the Corporation and approved insurance providers to determine the quality, costs, and efficiencies of providing the benefits of multiple peril crop insurance to producers of agricultural commodities covered under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.). (b) Collection of Information and Proposals.— The Corporation shall require private insurance providers and agents to supply, and the private insurance providers and agents shall supply, records and information necessary to make the determinations and evaluations required under this section. The Corporation shall solicit from the approved insurance providers and agents proposals for modifying or altering the requirements, regulations, procedures, and processes related to implementing the Federal Crop Insurance Act to reduce the operating and administrative costs of the providers and agents. (c) Initial Report.— Not later than 180 days after receipt of information and cost-reduction proposals under subsection (b), the Corporation shall evaluate the information and proposals obtained and report the results of the evaluation to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. (d) Final Report.— Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of this Act, the Comptroller General and the Corporation 108 STAT. 3206shall submit a final report that provides the evaluation required under subsection (a) to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate. In making the evaluation, the Comptroller General and the Corporation shall— (1) consider the changes made by the Corporation in response to increased program participation resulting from the enactment of this Act; (2) include an evaluation and opinion of the accuracy and reasonableness of— (A) the average actual costs for approved insurance providers to deliver multiple peril crop insurance; (B) the cost per policy of complying with the requirements, regulations, procedures, and processes of the Federal Crop Insurance Act; (C) the cost differences for various provider firm sizes and any business delivered by the Federal Government; (D) the adequacy of the standard reimbursement for potential new providers; and (E) the identification of any new costs related to the enactment of this Act not previously identified in the information reported by the providers; (3) compare delivery costs of multiple peril crop insurance to other insurance coverages that the provider may sell and determine the extent, if any, to which any funds provided to carry out the Federal Crop Insurance Act are being used to fund any other business enterprise operated by the provider; (4) (A) assess alternative methods for reimbursing providers for reasonable and necessary expenses associated with delivery of multiple peril crop insurance; (B) recommend changes under this paragraph that reasonably demonstrate the need to achieve the greatest operating efficiencies on the part of the provider and the Corporation has been recognized; and (C) identify areas for improved operating efficiencies, if any, in the requirements made by the Corporation for compliance and program integrity; (5) assess the potential for alternative forms of reinsurance arrangements for providers of different firm sizes, taking into consideration— (A) the need to achieve a reasonable return on the capital of the provider compared to other lines of insurance; (B) the relative risk borne by the provider for the different lines of insurance; (C) the availability and price of commercial reinsurance; and (D) any additional costs that may be incurred by the Federal Government in carrying out the Federal Crop Insurance Act; and (6) include an analysis of the effect of the current or proposed reinsurance arrangements on providers having different business levels. (e) Information.— (1) Privacy.— In conducting the evaluation required by this section, the Comptroller General and the Corporation shall maintain the privacy of proprietary information. 108 STAT. 3207 (2) Subpoenas.— The Comptroller General shall have the power to subpoena information relevant to the evaluation required by this section from any private insurance provider. The Comptroller General shall allow the Corporation access to the information subpoenaed taking into consideration the necessity of preserving the privacy of proprietary information.