(Reuters) – Two privately owned insurance brokers have teamed up with Lloyd’s of London underwriter Ark Syndicate to sell hospitals a product that insures against any loss of profit from Ebola quarantine shutdowns.
British broker Miller Insurance Services LLP said the product it created with U.S. broker William Gallagher Associates would also protect hospitals against any potential losses to revenue in the aftermath of a quarantine.
The policies, which Ark began underwriting on Friday, are the first of their kind.
There has been “considerable interest” in the product throughout the United States, Mark Sleet, Professional Risks broker at Miller, told Reuters.
The news comes as U.S. health officials said they were monitoring 16 people in Ohio, including one in quarantine, who had close contact with Ebola-infected Texas nurse Amber Joy Vinson.
Aon Plc said it had created an Ebola task force to monitor the outbreak and help its clients prepare for potential risk exposures, duty of care and human capital concerns.
“The healthcare industry is at the forefront on the Ebola situation and faces a unique and augmented set of risk exposures,” said Gigi Norris, managing director of Aon Risk Solutions’ healthcare practice.
The death toll in the epidemic has risen to 4,546 out of 9,191 known cases in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, including 239 health workers, according to the World Health Organization.
(Additional reporting by Carolyn Cohn in London; Editing by Simon Jennings)