Summary
The H5N1 virus is likely to soon reach North America by means of migratory birds. If it mutates into a form that can spread among humans, it could set off the first major worldwide pandemic since 1918. But life and health insurance industry members are confident they could weather any crises a pandemic could deliver. Health insurers would be less affected by a pandemic, industry officials believe. That is because healthcare claims would be capped by the inability of the system to treat everyone affected by the flu virus. Life reinsurers might be the hardest-hit segment of the life and health industries because the reinsurance market is more concentrated than the direct market. Of course, insurers would find themselves low on capital after paying claims. But that would likely be only a temporary problem. Steven Weisbart, author of the III report, projects that insurance rates would go up, at least for a short time.
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Extract
Enduring a Flu Pandemic
The H5N1 virus is likely to soon reach North America by means of migratory birds. It "was first detected nine years ago in poultry in Hong Kong, and it has spread through much of Asia and, more recently, into Europe and Africa. If it mutates into a form that can spread among humans, it could set off the first major worldwide pandemic since 1918.
What effects would such a pandemic have on the life and health insurance industries? Significant, to be sure. But industry members are confident they could weather any crises a pandemic could deliver."We regard this as a possibility at this point, not a fact," said Lisa Tate, se...See the full content of this document
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