Monthly Archives: May 2009

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Insurance Coverage for A (H1N1)

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The safety of workers is a top concern for businesses operating during any type of influenza outbreak. Attorneys from Anderson Kill & Olick, P.C. have created a pdf regarding insurance coverage for A (H1N1) claims.

Step one states that employers should access and implement the Business Pandemic Influenza Planning Checklist offered by the CDC and Department of Health and Human Services.

Step two is to consider the company’s current insurance policies and the protections provided by it. Businesses should review their property, business interruption, workers comp and liability insurance, among others.

“Such policies are the business equivalent of a vaccine against the flu.”

The report also answers the following questions, which are likely to arise under these various insurance policies when it comes to the current outbreak:

  • Is business interruption coverage available for the A (H1N1) pandemic?
  • Is there CGL or D&O coverage for claims related to A (H1N1)?
  • Will afflicted workers be covered under state workers comp laws?
  • Does a flu outbreak constitute an “occupational disease?”
  • How many self-insured retentions will apply in the event of an outbreak?

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What’s in a Name?

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As we begin the week, the influenza outbreak continues to gather steam. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 20 countries have officially reported close to 1,000 cases of A (H1N1) influenza infection.

Of these a little more than half are in Mexico, where 25 people have died from the disease. According to the BBC, more than 200 cases have been confirmed among 30 U.S. states, with more expected in the coming days. The disease remains at a level 5 WHO alert, one step below pandemic status.

With news like this, it’s easy to over-react. But it pays to keep some things – like the disease’s relatively low death rate thus far – in perspective.

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After all, this disease has also caused a fair amount of collateral damage. While the WHO does not encourage full-bore border closings or national travel restrictions as a reaction to the outbreak, it does suggest that people who are already ill should delay international travel.

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Likewise, groups such as RIMS have suggested restricting nonessential travel, and numerous airlines have reduced flights and have gone to using smaller planes.

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Mexico has been particularly hard hit by all of this, as would be any nation that relies on tourism income to any appreciable degree. Toronto certainly learned that the hard way during its experience with SARS.

Perhaps the most dramatic, and most unnecessary, reaction to the outbreak thus far has been the nationwide swine cull in Egypt, which illustrated just how hard the pork industry has been hit by this, and by extension, the secondary businesses (e.g., restaurants, grocery stores) it deals with.  Last week, the WHO advised against referring to the outbreak any further as “swine flu,” since it raised inaccurate notions over the safety of pork products. The European Union has done likewise.

This blog will also do the same, referring to the disease henceforth by its proper name, influenza A (H1N1). This denotes that the current influenza outbreak is a type-A H1N1 virus. To prevent further confusion, this blog has also edited past posts to change the name of the disease where necessary.