Media Advisory: I.I.I. Offers Insurance Facts, Perspectives on Ebola Pandemic

Potential Implications for Workers Compensation, Life and Medical Malpractice Coverages

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New York Press Office: (212) 346-5500; media@iii.org

NEW YORK, October 13, 2014 — Reporters with questions about the potential U.S. insurance industry ramifications of the Ebola virus can contact the Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.)

The I.I.I. released today a document offering Facts and Perspectives on the Ebola Pandemic. It notes the workers compensation line of coverage “could be the most directly exposed” to the spread of the virus within the United States because workers comp benefits include payment of “the cost of medical care and lost income for people who become ill in the course of their work, and pays death benefits if they die from a work-related cause.” 

The report includes an assessment of how life and medical malpractice insurers might be impacted, if the Ebola virus were to expand widely beyond the four African nations that have been hardest hit to date. At the current time, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) believes the likelihood of the Ebola virus spreading widely in the United States to be extremely remote.

Dr. Steven Weisbart, the I.I.I.’s chief economist, can speak to the insurance issues addressed in the I.I.I.’s Facts and Perspectives paper. To set up an interview with Dr. Weisbart, contact Michael Barry, vice president, Media Relations, I.I.I., at 212-346-5542, or via email: michaelb@iii.org.

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Insurance Information Institute, 110 William Street, New York, NY 10038; (212) 346-5500; www.iii.org

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