<nobr>Dec 14, 2006</nobr>

Pandemic Flu Threat: Despite Progress, Not All Have Adequately Planned: Deloitte/ERIC Survey

News Release

Contact:
Francine Fiano
Deloitte Services LP
(203) 708-4254
ffiano@deloitte.com

S. Michael Chittenden
The ERISA Industry Committee
(202) 789-1400
mchittenden@eric.org

More Businesses Aware of Pandemic Flu Threat; Despite Progress, Not All Have Adequately Planned, Finds a Deloitte, ERIC Survey

WASHINGTON, D. C., December 14, 2006 – With an increasing number of U.S. employers acknowledging the real threat of a pandemic flu, companies have made some progress in pandemic preparedness and planning compared to one year ago. According to a survey released today by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (“the Center”), part of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP, and The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), there still remains a wide gap between those companies that acknowledge the threat (73 percent) and those that feel they have adequately planned (52 percent) for a pandemic flu outbreak.

Some of the key findings include:

• 73 percent of companies surveyed believe a pandemic flu presents a real threat to the United States, compared with 57 percent last year

• 68 percent said their company was very concerned about pandemic flu, compared with only 43 percent last year

• 52 percent said their company has adequately planned ways to protect itself from the effects of a pandemic flu, compared with just 14 percent last year

• 45 percent reportedly feel confident their company is prepared to manage a pandemic flu outbreak should it occur, compared with only 18 percent last year

“America’s employers are recognizing the need to reform their policies and prepare for the possibility of pandemic flu that could infect a large number of citizens - impacting not only their business operations but the entire U.S. economy,” said Secretary Tommy G. Thompson, the Independent Chairman of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. “While the survey findings reflect some positive improvements in planning preparation, companies need to analyze if and to what degree their critical business operations will be affected by a pandemic flu.”

About 75 percent of those companies surveyed agree that now is the right time to educate employees about what they should do if a pandemic flu occurs. Closely linked with employee education, 76 percent of respondents are aware of the federal government’s website for pandemic flu planning at http://www.PandemicFlu.gov. In addition, more than half (53 percent) of respondents reported that their company has been involved in pandemic flu planning activities sponsored by state and/or local governments.

"These survey results point to the fact that large employers are increasingly concerned about a vast outbreak of pandemic flu and the calamity it will bring to America, including the enormous health threat it will have on employees and their families," said Edwina Rogers, Vice President for Health Policy of The ERISA Industry Committee. "The private sector must work with the public sector to help prepare for just such a disaster, and this survey shows the need for continued planning, education and cooperation.

A pandemic influenza is a global outbreak of the flu that occurs when a new virus emerges for which there is little immunity among humans. In the 20th century, there were three pandemics: 1918 (500,000 deaths in the United States, and at least 50 million deaths worldwide), 1957 (70,000 deaths in the United States, and up to 2 million deaths worldwide), and 1968 (34,000 deaths in the United States, and 700,000 deaths worldwide).

With responses from 163 U.S. employers, this survey was conducted over the course of two weeks from November 27, 2006 through December 11, 2006. Of the respondents, 55 percent are public companies and 36 percent are private companies. As for size of companies, 31 percent of respondents have less than 1,000 employees and another 33 percent of respondents have between 1,000 and 10,000 employees.

For more information about pandemic preparedness, go to http://www.deloitte.com/us/healthsolutions.

About the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions

The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions (the “Center”), located in Washington, D.C., is part of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP and was formed to further research on and develop solutions to some of our nation’s most pressing health care and public health-related challenges. Tommy G. Thompson, former Secretary of Health and Human Services and former Governor of Wisconsin, is Independent Chairman of the Center.

About Deloitte

Deloitte refers to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, a Swiss Verein, its member firms and their respective subsidiaries and affiliates. As a Swiss Verein (association), neither Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu nor any of its member firms has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. Each of the member firms is a separate and independent legal entity operating under the names “Deloitte”, “Deloitte & Touche”, “Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu” or other related names. Services are provided by the member firms or their subsidiaries or affiliates and not by the Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Verein.

Deloitte & Touche USA LLP is the US member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. In the US, services are provided by the subsidiaries of Deloitte & Touche USA LLP (Deloitte & Touche LLP, Deloitte Consulting LLP, Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP, Deloitte Tax LLP and their subsidiaries), and not by Deloitte & Touche USA LLP.

About ERIC

The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is a non-profit association committed to representing the advancement of the employee retirement, health and compensation plans of America’s largest employers. ERIC’s members provide benchmark retirement, health care coverage, compensation and other economic security benefits directly to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. ERIC has a strong interest in proposals affecting its members’ ability to deliver those benefits, their cost and their effectiveness, as well as the role of those benefits in the American economy.

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Footnotes
1. Last year’s survey was conducted from November 14-28, 2005 with a total of 179 completed responses.

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