La. Healthcare System Not Covered for COVID-19 Losses, Federal Judge Rules

NEW ORLEANS — A Louisiana healthcare company is not entitled to coverage from Continental Casualty Co. for COVID-19-related income losses because they were not caused by “physical loss or damage to property,” a federal judge has ruled.

In a Sept. 19 order, Judge Jane T. Milazzo of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana followed the 5th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ reasoning that neither the virus nor related government orders cause “tangible alterations of, injuries to, and deprivations of property.”

Fairway Medical Center, d/b/a AVALA operates a hospital and several related healthcare facilities in Louisiana. In …