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1 1 (May 11, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdaep0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Business Interruption Insurance and COVID-19: State Legislative Initiatives May 11, 2020 One of the most significant challenges currently facing businesses is the loss of revenue as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders. Businesses across all sectors are incurring losses, and those with business intcmiption tinsurance (BI) are submitting claims to their insurers. However, both individual insurance carriers and the industry as a whole have asserted that BI claims related to COVID-19 are not covered, either because there has been no physical damage to the property or because the policy expressly excludes coverage for viruses, or both. More detail on BI insurance can be found in CRS Insight IN11295, Business Interruption Insurance and COVID-19. Insurance companies are rcgulated by states; the role of the federal government in regulating private insurance (other than health insurance) is more limited. Federal initiatives related to BI coverage are discussed in CRS Insight IN 11383, Business Interruption Insurance and COVID-19: Federal Legislative Initiatives. Given the likelihood that many COVID-19 losses will not be covered by BI insurance, many small businesses have requested that their elected representatives intervene through legislation to require their claims to be paid, and a number of state lawmakers have drafted legislation to compel coverage. Legislators in at least eight states have introduced bills, with thers considering legisltion, to require insurers to provide retroactive BI coverage for coronavirus-related losses even if coverage under the policies otherwise would not be triggered. The state BI bills have certain features in common, requiring insurers with in-force BI policies or property insurance policies to cover BI losses during a defined period of a declared emergency due to COVID-19, retroactive to the date when the state of emergency was declared. The claims payment would initially come from insurers, but the proposals vary in the extent to which insurance companies or the government would ultimately fund those payments. Most of these bills would apply only to small businesses. Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN11382 CRS NSMeHT Prier' for Miem-,beis aind Cornttees cf Corglr-ss