The (re)insurance industry, policyholders and governments throughout the world must come together on an approach that offers relief to those who need it now and develop a plan to implement mitigation strategies and a response mechanism for future pandemic events. The scale of this exposure is immense and far beyond the financial capabilities of the insurance industry alone.
Recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic will require a concerted effort by governments and private entities, according to participants in a recent installment of Marsh’s continuing COVID-19 webcast series, now available for replay. Marsh is an affiliate of Guy Carpenter.
The pace of recovery will depend on different factors, predominantly on the management of the current health threat. “Until we get the virus under control, shutdowns will continue,” stressed Lawrence Wu, President of National Economic Research Associates (NERA) Economic Consulting, adding that the longer shutdowns continue, the higher the risk of businesses not surviving.
In addition, recovery will hinge upon the nature and degree of uncertainty in the marketplace, which is also related to whether the virus is under control. Aside from the fear of a follow-on or second wave of cases and uncertainty related to timing of an effective vaccine, there is also fear of future pandemics.
The uptick in cases that many observers expected later this year is happening now in communities across the country. This underlines the need to build long-term resilience both to the continuing effects of the current pandemic as well as future similar events.
Daniel Kaniewski, Managing Director within the Public Sector team at Marsh & McLennan Advantage, Dr. Lorna Friedman, Global Health Leader for Mercer’s Multinational Client Group and Cindy Smail, Senior Vice President in Marsh Advisory’s Workforce Strategies Consulting Solutions team also contributed to the webinar.
The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency and at Guy Carpenter we feel the gravity of our role in helping clients respond to the insurance implications for their businesses and customers.
