A health care company should have to satisfy only one self-insured retention before it can receive millions in insurance coverage for a slew of claims asserted by long-term care residents who allege they contracted COVID-19 at nursing home facilities, the company told a Pennsylvania federal court.
Genesis HealthCare Inc. said in a motion for summary judgment Thursday that under the plain language of its professional liability policy with Berkshire Hathaway unit National Fire & Marine Insurance Co., it's required to pay only a single $3 million retention before the insurer's coverage obligations kick in.
The Pennsylvania-based owner and operator of nursing homes and senior living facilities argued that all claims asserted by residents who allege they contracted COVID-19 at Genesis facilities should count as a single "health care event" under the policy, triggering a single self-insured retention.
"Those claims constitute a single health care event because they arise from whether or not Genesis engaged in measures sufficient to protect its residents from contracting COVID-19," the health care company argued.
The health care company said its policy requires that all claims "arising from the same acts or omissions in furnishing professional services be treated as a single health care event," regardless of whether they took place at different Genesis-owned facilities or during different time periods.
Genesis said National Fire initially agreed with that coverage interpretation, but then abruptly changed course to avoid millions in liability.
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Genesis is represented by Pamela D. Hans, Rhonda D. Orin, John P. Lacey Jr., Fiona Hogan and Jason E. Kosek of Anderson Kill.
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