Congressional budget rules treat the borrowing limit as a fundamental restraint on NFIP spending.

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After that, the NFIP is projected to break even, with spending restrained to equal revenues.

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Any temporary budget savings thus get offset by increased NFIP spending in later years.

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The Biggert-Waters Act passed in July 2012 proposed major reforms to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) over the next five years.

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One encouraging sign is NFIP recently won approval to raise premiums 25 percent a year over the next five years, but rising costs for consumers are certainly cold comfort, and critics say far more still needs to be done.

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