Ohio and Massachusetts have followed New Jersey’s lead in attempting to push through legislation that would force insurers to provide COVID-19 coverage.  The proposed bill filed earlier this week in Ohio seeks to require policies issued to businesses within the state that employ 100 of fewer eligible employees to be construed “to include among the covered perils under that policy, coverage for business interruption due to global virus transmission or pandemic during the state of emergency.”  Similarly, the Massachusetts bill seeks to require policies sold to businesses in the commonwealth with 150 or fewer full-time employees to be construed “to include among the covered peril under such coverage for business interruption directly or indirectly resulting from the global pandemic known as COVID-19, including all mutated forms of the COVID-19 virus.”

The North Carolina General Assembly is currently out of session and scheduled to reconvene on April 28, 2020.  We will be on the lookout for any similar legislation proposed once session is back in.