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October 24, 2016 at 09:08 AM
Influenza is something that can give an agent selling any life- or health-related product an urgent reason to reach out to clients and prospects.
A U.S. flu season typically creaks to a start in October and winds down around April or May.
The U.S. Centers Disease Control and Prevention recorded about 4,600 deaths directly caused by the flu in 2014, the latest year for which full, detailed mortality figures are available. Physicians listed flu as a contributing cause of death in a few thousand other cases.
But, even in an ordinary bad flu season, flu can cause enough health insurance claims to get the attention of health insurance companies’ chief financial officers, and the securities analysts that keep tabs on health insurance companies for investors.
Related: CFOs notice the flu
For consumers, flu can produce the kinds of out-of-pocket hospital bills that make a good hospital indemnity insurance policy a nice thing to have.
Complications of flu, such as pneumonia, can lead to short-term disability insurance claims and, of course, life insurance claims. Flu occasionally brings on Guillain-Barre syndrome, a paralytic condition that may result in long-term disability insurance or long-term care claims.
Related: Could Zika paralyze hundreds of U.S. adults?
A really bad flu season could temporarily paralyze much of the U.S. economy. Financial regulators consider pandemic flu to be such a serious threat that they require large insurers, banks and securities brokers to develop plans to keep basic operations going during a major flu outbreak.
In 1918, the “Spanish flu” influenza pandemic killed more than 500,000 people in the United States and about 20 million people around the world. Researchers are still not sure why the Spanish flu pandemic was so deadly, or how well current medical science could control a similar pandemic.
Public health teams develop a new flu vaccine formula every year, based on predictions about which strains of flu will be circulating. The vaccine reduces the odds that an individual will catch the flu about 50 percent to 60 percent, and it usually reduces the severity of any cases of the flu that an individual does get. Even though the effectiveness rate looks low, the partial effectiveness usually seems to help keep the flu from spreading rapidly enough to get out of control. Occasionally, however, the flu vaccine itself can cause serious problems, such as allergic reactions, or even occasional cases of Guillain Barre syndrome.
For agents and brokers, the flu is a great conversation starter.
You can tell clients and prospects that:
- Asking their physicians about the idea of getting a flu shot is a great thing to do.
- The Affordable Care Act now requires all non-grandfathered major medical policies to cover annual flu shots in the basic preventive services package, without imposing co-payments or deductibles on the patients.
- Medicare Part B covers an annual flu shot with imposing any deductible or other cost-sharing amount on the insured.
What you can’t tell clients is how light, or severe, the 2016-2017 flu season will be.
Here’s a look at the states with the 10 worst death rates in 2014, along with peeks at the first 2016-2017 flu season data. (It’s possible that the look of the numbers may have some relationship with how well prepared a state’s health care system is to fight the flu: States with comprehensive, up-to-date flu tracking reports on the web might be in a good position to notice and contain outbreaks early.)
At press time, Colorado had not yet posted a 20160-2017 flu season report. The 2015-2016 was milder than the previous season and peaked later. (Image: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment)
10. Colorado
Deaths: 114.
Death rate: 2.1.
The Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment had not posted any 2016-2017 flu season data on the influenza section of its website as of Oct. 23.
A Google Trends search for Colorado combined with flu suggests that mid-October interest in flu in Colorado is at its lowest level in about five years. But interest was only slightly higher in October 2012. A frightening outbreak drove search activity levels to about six times the normal level just a few weeks later, in January 2013.
Related: Most life insurance underwriters expect more pandemics
Kansas (Image: Kansas Department of Public Health and Environment
9. Kansas
Deaths: 61.
Death rate: 2.1.
Few patients who visited Kansas outpatient clinics in the first half of October had either the flu or an illness that looked like the flu. But the percentage of outpatient patients with influenza-like illness was also low in October 2014, and 2014-2015 turned out to be a bad flu season for Kansas. In January 2015, more than 8 percent of the patients who went to the doctor had a flu-like illness.
Related: A billion in pandemic prevention is worth a trillion in cure
In Nebraska, the 2015-2016 flu season was milder than the 2014-2015 season and got off to a late start, but it caused more cases of flu in the summer. This year, early October activity is light. (Image: Nebraska Division of Public Health)
8. Nebraska
Deaths: 39.
Death rate: 2.1.
Nebraska public health officials have published detailed 2016-2017 flu season data for the week ending Oct. 8.
Only 1.2 percent of the patients who had a flu-like illness and were tested for the flu actually had the flu.
About 2.3 percent of all emergency room patients, and 5.1 percent of patients ages 4 and younger, had a flu-like illness.
Related: Influenza pandemics: Time for a reality check?
Rhode Island has not yet reported flu surveillance data for the 2016-2017 season. Last year, it appeared to have a milder flu season than the rest of the country. (Image: State of Rhode Island Department of Health)
7. Rhode Island
Deaths: 22.
Death rate: 2.1.
Rhode Island had not published any 2016-2017 flu season data as of Oct. 23.
A Google Trends search showed that the search activity level for “Rhode Island” combined with “flu” has been and continues to be at a very low level.
The five-year peak occurred around January 2013. At that time, search activity for that topic was about 12 times higher than the current level of activity.
Related: Mild flu season hurts CVS profits
