Hurricane Katrina made landfall on the east coast of Florida. The storm—which at one point reached Category 5 status—proceeded to strike three other Gulf Coast states: Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Hurricane Katrina was the deadliest in recent history and the damage was extensive and devastating. By the time the hurricane dissipated over the Great Lakes region on August 31, 2005, it resulted in property damage in excess of $81 billion and over 1800 deaths. Two subsequent hurricanes, Rita and Wilma, caused additional destruction and causalities.
Following on the heels of several other disasters of various kinds, Health Insurance, Hurricane Katrina served as a powerful wake-up call for all Americans. It reinforced the critical need for individuals, businesses, and government agencies to better prepare for and respond to disasters. While heroic efforts were undertaken to help those affected by the Gulf States hurricanes, there is broad recognition that additional steps are needed to get ready for and be in a position to respond to wide scale catastrophic events.
Immediately after Hurricane Katrina, the Board of Directors of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) formed the Readiness Task Force to discuss how the health insurance industry could mobilize and prepare for future events such as Hurricane Katrina. The Task Force met over several months and analyzed the lessons learned from recent events—including the Gulf Coast hurricanes, the September 11 terrorist attacks, and the anthrax poisonings which occurred later in 2001—in order to understand how health insurers could meet the challenges of similar potentially catastrophic events.
One of the recommendations of the Readiness Task Force was to assemble some of the best practices and procedures employed by health insurance plans in emergency preparedness and contingency planning. Health Insurance this report is a result of that directive and it draws on expertise and experience from a wide range of AHIP’s member plans.
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