A message from Dave Eslick regarding pandemic risk

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all of us, often in dramatic ways. While MMA’s priority remains the safety of our colleagues, clients, and communities, it’s important to start looking ahead at solutions for our recovery.

While the pandemic is first and foremost a human tragedy, we are deeply troubled by the economic hardships it has caused. The stakes – for businesses, their employees, and our economy – are too high to defer action. That is why today, John Doyle, CEO of Marsh, wrote to Congress and the Administration to offer our assistance in creating a public-private pandemic risk solution that can accelerate our economic recovery and provide much-needed protection against another pandemic in the future.

We believe that a pandemic risk insurance program is essential for our clients. A risk-sharing model that provides pandemic business interruption coverage offered by the insurance industry and supported by a government backstop would provide crucial benefits to businesses and organizations across the US. It can:

• Facilitate access to capital from both lenders and equity markets that will require assurance against future pandemic risks.
• Establish a viable insurance market – with sufficient and affordable capacity – for pandemic risk.
• Create greater certainty for both businesses and employees if we face a recurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic or during a future pandemic.
• Enhance the resilience of the US economy and its ability to bounce back following a future pandemic.

Our recommendations are based on multiple discussions we have had with trade associations and leading commercial lines insurers to understand the needs of policyholders across all industry sectors.

Having analyzed data from past pandemics, we are convinced that the private insurance sector does not have the capacity to manage a peril of the magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic across the US economy. Like terrorism, this risk requires the full weight of the federal government — which, in partnership with the insurance industry, can work to ensure that all businesses and organizations have the ability to manage such a risk in the future.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, we remain committed to being there for our clients, both by helping you manage current impacts on your business and by advocating for prospective measures. I encourage you to reach out to your congressional representative to underline the importance of supporting a public-private pandemic risk solution.

We will continue to update you on the latest insurance information on our COVID-19 resources page. If you have any questions, please reach out to your local MMA service team.

Thank you for your business, and please stay safe and healthy.

Dave Eslick
Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
Marsh & McLennan Agency