A MESSAGE TO PLAN EXECUTIVES AND PARTNERS
Like most organizations, BCS is actively monitoring the Coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency as it begins to affect many communities worldwide. Since this is a fluid situation with new information emerging very quickly, we have been actively reviewing and fortifying our business continuity plans to ensure that there is as little disruption as possible to our operations should the situation escalate into something more severe.
The core intent of this message is to share with you how BCS is proactively responding to this current situation and any potential impact is has on our business with you.
• We have three guiding principles in response to the Coronavirus outbreak. 1) Continue to serve BCS’s insureds and customers with highest standards possible within the terms and conditions of their policies and contracts, 2) providing our customers timely and accurate information about their available benefits under their policies and contracts, and 3) keep BCS employees safe.
• We intend to fully honor the terms of the Excess of Loss reinsurance contracts. Our Excess Reinsurance program does not contain an exclusion for pandemics or epidemics such as COVID-19. Irregular regional and global epidemics like the Coronavirus are typically anticipated by the reinsurance markets and, in almost all incidents, are covered in traditional life and health reinsurance policies.
• We are actively managing our Stop Loss and Limited Benefit lines of business. “First dollar” health insurance business could be significantly impacted from a frequency standpoint. Our Stop Loss and Limited Benefit lines of business may be affected on an aggregate claim basis if the spread of the virus in the US increases in speed and frequency. At this time, we don’t believe the cost of treatment for otherwise healthy members is a sufficient cause of concern.
• We are closely monitoring our exposures in International Healthcare and Travel Insurance lines of business. We are working closely with our partners in these industries to strategically prepare for all possible outcomes which may impact premium and/or claims activity for our organization, all the while continuing to fulfill coverage obligations for our insured customers.
• We are fully remote-work enabled so our business continuity is at minimal risk. In recent years, we’ve moved infrastructure services to the cloud, established an appropriate work-from-home policy, and have a unified communication system, allowing us to interact with each other and our customers, whether working at home or in the office. Our cyber security systems and protocols remain robust, as we have adopted two-factor authentication, VPNs, and other security measures to protect remote workers’ connections. Our IT helpdesk procedures can scale to handle sudden increases in requests for remote working and credential renewals.
As this situation continues to unfold, we will continue to share any relevant information as it pertains to our business with your organization. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact BCS at [email protected].
BCS is here for you.
