As we near the one-year anniversary of the SARS-CoV-2 virus achieving pandemic status, insurance providers are still left with a lot of unknowns around how to address COVID-19 related challenges through underwriting changes, claim handling, or rethinking where to launch new coverages. 

We dig into the ways that insurance carriers can utilize the Origami Risk platform to manage COVID-19 related activities.

Underwriting Considerations 

Appetite Guides

Insurers can actively update the risk types to target in the underwriting appetite guide managed within the Origami Policy Administration system. As an example, insurers may want to focus more on transportation and construction industries instead of hospitality in the near term.

Risk Mitigation Checklists

To protect against undue exposure, commercial policyholders should be implementing and enforcing the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) COVID-19 best practices guidance, even if not jurisdictionally required in the cities or states of operation. Within the Origami platform, insurance providers can update recommended CDC risk mitigation steps, or even require them, to insureds by providing a best practices checklist for new policy applications. That checklist can then be used to evaluate the (commercial) policyholder’s approach to risk mitigation. Insurers’ Loss Control teams can also review COVID-19 guidelines for their existing book of business, prior to renewal, in order to determine if they want to stay on that risk or perhaps non-renew accounts that are not taking adequate steps to protect their workforce and, if applicable, their customers. 

Workers’ Comp Compensability Presumptions

When determining where to launch new insurance products, it’s important to know how local jurisdictions are treating rebuttable presumptions related to whether or not an employer will be held liable for an employee contracting COVID-19. For example, the state of Alaska considers the workplace at fault for a positive COVID-19 diagnosis in the case of emergency response and healthcare workers. Though, in the state of California, the workplace will only likely be held responsible for critical workers. One implication is that employers will need to pay workers’ compensation for employee time off if it’s determined that the employee contracted the virus at work, a seemingly impossible task.

Contact tracing by employers is tricky. It’s not easy to determine where an employee contracted the virus or whether or not they were indeed exposed at work when widespread outbreaks continue to pop up across the county. For insurance providers, it’s important to begin thinking through these and similar scenarios now. A tool like Origami Risk can aid in issues like exposure and outbreak tracking and reporting. 

Claim Considerations

Integrate the Latest Jurisdictional Regulations

Insurers need to ensure that their claims adjusters have up-to-date jurisdictional details related to COVID-19 claims and are following best-practice guidelines. An onerous task considering the ongoing ambiguity around state and federal regulations. 

Similar to how the Origami platform integrates with the Official Disability Guidelines (ODG), our Claim Administration system can be integrated with virtually any third-party data feed. With this tool, insurers are able to provide current COVID-19 rules and regulation in one place. Users could also set up the system to allow insurance providers to self-manage updating this information if they choose.

Contact Tracing Questionnaires

While the Origami Risk platform does not provide a contact tracing tool, related tools can provide data and information to aid in the effort. Should adjusters need to perform contact tracing on COVID-19-related claims, the Origami Risk platform allows the creation of a questionnaire that resides in the platform, supplying a checklist to help manage the laborious process.

Value-Add Services for Your Insureds/Members

Exposure and Outbreak Reporting & Vaccination Tracking 

Origami Risk offers COVID-19 exposure, outbreak, and vaccination tracking and reporting capabilities, along with other related functionality, as part of our award-winning COVID-19 Solution Suite. 

For more information on Origami Risk’s COVID-19 Solution Suite or to stay up-to-date on our latest pandemic-related resources, visit our COVID-19 Resources Library or contact us if you have specific questions about the solution’s role in your organization.