RAND Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation

The RAND Kenneth R. Feinberg Center for Catastrophic Risk Management and Compensation, or Feinberg Center, seeks to identify and promote laws, programs, and institutions that reduce the adverse social and economic effects of natural and manmade catastrophes by

  • Improving incentives to reduce future losses
  • Providing just compensation to those suffering losses while appropriately allocating liability to responsible parties
  • Helping affected individuals, businesses, and communities to recover quickly
  • Avoiding unnecessary legal, administrative, and other transaction costs

COVID-19 Liability and Compensation

  • Bottles containing a vaccine for SARS-CoV-2, photo by Max Rode/Adobe Stock

    COVID-19 Vaccinations: Liability and Compensation Considerations for Policymakers

    Sep 21, 2020

    Vaccine development is only one part of the challenge in creating an immunization campaign to stop the pandemic. Once a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine is ready, liability and compensation issues could affect its distribution and administration.

  • Woman in a face mask having her temperature scanned, photo by whyframestudio/Getty Images

    Can Workers' Compensation Help Businesses Reopen More Safely?

    Sep 9, 2020

    Workers' compensation typically does not cover common infectious diseases like COVID-19. But in the fight against the pandemic, state policymakers might take a fresh look at aspects of labor and business regulation that usually fade into the background and ask if modest changes hold any potential to reduce disease transmission.

  • Construction workers have their temperatures checked on a job site, photo by Maha Heang 245789/Adobe Stock

    Should COVID-19 Be Covered by Workers' Compensation?

    Aug 31, 2020

    Expanding workers' compensation coverage for COVID-19 could be part of a broader response to ensuring an efficient economic recovery from the pandemic. What are the potential benefits and drawbacks?

  • Finger stopping wooden dominoes from falling over, photo by simarik/Getty Images

    Key Questions to Ask in Designing a Pandemic Risk Insurance Program

    Jul 27, 2020

    Congress is considering establishing an insurance program that would make business interruption coverage for pandemics less expensive and more widely available. We have identified several key questions that policymakers could consider when designing a pandemic risk insurance program.

  • Man holds a cutout of an umbrella over a scale with bags of money on one side and blocks spelling risk on the other, photo by William_Potter/Reuters

    Is It Time for a Federal Pandemic Insurance Program?

    Jun 26, 2020

    Insurance companies for the most part are not contractually obligated to cover the enormous business interruption losses caused by social distancing and stay-at-home orders. How might the United States design a system for risk spreading and compensation for pandemics? And what roles should insurance and government play?

  • Businessman stops domino effect, photo by ridvan_celik/Getty Images

    Tapping Business Interruption Insurance Coverage to Assist Small Business During the Pandemic

    Apr 10, 2020

    Legislation has been introduced in several states that would require insurers to cover business interruption losses due to the COVID-19 outbreak. What are the advantages and disadvantages of such a law? If policymakers were to proceed with such an approach, then what design considerations should they keep in mind?

Featured Research and Commentary

  • A house burning along Cherry Glen Road during the LNU Lightning Complex Fire on the outskirts of Vacaville, California, August 19, 2020, photo by Stephen Lam/Reuters

    How Wildfire Risks Affect California's Insurance Market

    Sep 14, 2020

    Wildfires in California destroy thousands of structures each year, devastating homeowners and bringing heavy costs for insurers. And without an aggressive GHG emissions control strategy, climate change will likely increase the risk of wildfires in some areas. How will insurance markets respond?

  • Aerial photograph of the devastation caused in the greater New Orleans area following Hurricane Katrina, August 30, 2005, photo by Vincent Laforet/Pool/Reuters

    Planning for a COVID-19 Hurricane

    May 4, 2020

    What if Hurricane Katrina had hit during a pandemic? Emergency planners can prepare for this scenario by evaluating current response system capacity, evacuation and sheltering procedures, food and supply issues, and more.

  • Emergency workers float along an oil collection boom in front of Athos I after it spilled 30,00 gallons of crude oil into the Delaware River in Philadelphia, November 28, 2004, photo by Tim Shaffer/Reuters

    The Benefits and Drawbacks of Early Assistance After Disasters

    Nov 14, 2019

    After human-made disasters, early assistance from potentially responsible parties can sometimes fill gaps that are not always addressed by NGOs and first responders. But is providing such assistance a good strategy in terms of reducing future litigation or improving public opinion?

  • PG&E works on power lines to repair damage caused by the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, November 21, 2018, photo by Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters

    Allocating Costs for California Wildfires

    Jul 24, 2019

    Wildfires in California have caused and will likely continue to cause substantial losses for residents, businesses, and government agencies. It is important to distribute these losses in a manner that provides incentives to reduce their magnitude over time.

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