Of course federal flood insurance premiums should reflect risk. But thousands of Ohio Valley residents are being told of drastic premium increases that don't seem to be based objectively on potential damage from high water.

By a better than two-to-one margin, members of the U.S. Senate voted last month to suspend big increases in flood insurance premiums for a few years. The delay is intended to give National Flood Insurance Program analysts time to devise a realistic premium structure.

But some members of the House of Representatives, including Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, have balked at following the Senate's lead. They are backed by some conservatives who point out the flood insurance program has a debt of $24 billion. That, they note, is because the NFIP did not set premium rates properly for much of its history.

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