The Home Insurance L.A. — and America — Needs

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The Los Angeles wildfires offer a stark reminder that we no longer live in an era of reliable home insurance. An exodus of insurance companies from disaster-prone areas has put the American dream of homeownership in peril. In this episode, the climate reporter Nick Mott makes the case for a national climate catastrophe insurance plan that could help protect families from the devastating losses being experienced in California.

(A full transcript of this audio essay will be available within 24 hours of publication in the audio player above.)

Credit…Illustration by The New York Times; photograph by Spiderstock/Getty

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This episode of “The Opinions” was produced by Vishakha Darbha. It was edited by Alison Bruzek and Kaari Pitkin. Mixing by Sonia Herrero. Original music by Carole Sabouraud and Pat McCusker. Fact-checking by Kate Sinclair. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser.

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