WASHINGTON—A wide swath of television, film and sports production organizations—including NAB and NCTA - The Internet & Television Association—are working together to push for pandemic risk insurance that will help get the production industry back to normal. A joint letter from the coalition was sent to the House Financial Services Committee ahead of a hearing taking place Nov. 19 on pandemic insurance.
The “Insuring Against a Pandemic: Challenges and Solutions for Policyholders and Insurers” hearing is expected to examine the issues related to business insurance that has impacted production across the TV, film and sports industries.
When the pandemic hit in March, a significant amount of productions were halted and insurance needed to resume production ceased to be available, according to the coalition. The group says that production cannot restart on a widespread basis in the U.S. without protection from the ongoing pandemic risks.
“The ability of American businesses to secure pandemic risk insurance will be a key factor to America’s economic recovery and getting our workers back on the job,” the coalition wrote.
In its letter, the coalition supports legislation that was introduced by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) and ask that Congress move quickly to pass bipartisan legislation that would create a public private insurance solution where the government would share the financial risk of losses related to pandemics so production can resume. The coalition believes this would protect jobs and reduce economic damages from pandemics.
“Working with you in a bipartisan fashion to enact pandemic risk insurance legislation is a top priority,” the coalition wrote.
In addition to NAB and NCTA, the coalition includes the Motion Picture Association, the Independent Film & Television Alliance, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, NASCAR, the NFL, the Directors Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, NPACT and SAG-AFTRA. They say they represent more than 2.5 million jobs across the country and $200 billion in annual wages.
