Recent articles, like the one that ran last Friday in USA Today, explore trip cancellation insurance benefits in relation to the H1N1 flu and along the way create the potential for some misunderstandings. To sort out the subtleties, HTB takes a look at a typical product — TripProtector from HTH Worldwide.
The pandemic exclusion clause contained in the TripProtector plan applies strictly to trip cancellation, trip interruption or travel delay benefits. If a member feels threatened by pandemic flu and decides to cancel her trip prior to departure or to cut her trip short, the policy does not cover the associated travel expenses. Or, if a member’s travel is delayed because of circumstances arising from the pandemic, the policy does not cover the associated travel expenses. But if that person becomes ill while traveling, with H1N1 or any other pandemic infectious agent, TripProtector covers the associated medical costs, including evacuation for medical treatment, if necessary.
By definition, pandemics affect a large swathe of the population, so many trip cancellation carriers anticipate a potential avalanche of claims related to H1N1. Some carriers have decided to take this risk; others have not. We are not aware of any policies that exclude medical treatment for pandemic flu while you are traveling.
Reports this week indicate that the first doses of the H1N1 vaccine have been shipped in the U.S. However, a poll conducted by Consumer Reports suggests some Americans may not want it because of the potential risks involved. This raises the issue of whether or not health care workers should minimally be required to get the seasonal flu shot.
The good news this week: Europe is very close to approving an H1N1 vaccine, and the rapping doctor won the video contest run by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 
As speculation increases in the U.S. that the H1N1 vaccine may be available in the next few weeks, it’s a good time to focus on the facts, minimize your risk, consider the big picture and recognize that countries need to responsibly share the vaccine. 
H1N1 news will be breaking fast over the coming weeks and months. HTB will try to capture some of the most important angles to keep you posted. 
Q: What do you get when you run a contest on YouTube to create a new public service announcement (PSA) to help get the message out on how to prevent the spread of H1N1?
The World Health Organization (WHO) has published an 
Although the CDC report of May 22, 2009 suggests there is no significant immunity to the novel H1N1 virus from the seasonal flu vaccine, scientists are still at a loss to explain why the H1N1 virus appears to affect pregnant women and children more than the elderly- a striking departure from the epidemiology of seasonal flu. The logical conclusion is that prior exposure and/or immunization to the various strains of the seasonal flu may provide at least a modicum of immunity to the novel influenza virus.
