60,000 COVID-19 Survivors... Told to Wait One More Year to Enroll in Insurance?

On the 21st, market merchants are undergoing COVID-19 diagnostic tests at a temporary walk-in screening clinic set up in Namdaemun Market, Jung-gu, Seoul. Jung-gu explained, "Since it is difficult for merchants to leave their shops during business hours due to sales and other operations, we collaborated with Seoul City to establish a testing site inside the market for merchants who cannot visit screening clinics." Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] Choi Seon-jin (33, pseudonym), who tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), was recently declared fully recovered after two weeks of treatment. Concerned about possible aftereffects, Choi inquired about insurance enrollment with an insurance company but was told that even after recovering from COVID-19, one cannot enroll in insurance for one year.

He said, "I was asymptomatic and physically fine, so I don't understand why I can't get insurance," and lamented, "Shouldn't there be consideration for those who need insurance more than anyone else?"

People who have been infected with COVID-19 and recovered are suffering twice?due to aftereffects and harsh public perception, as well as being unable to enroll in insurance. Although there are over 60,000 COVID-19 recoverees, insurance companies refuse enrollment based on strict underwriting standards.

According to health authorities and the insurance industry on the 22nd, COVID-19 was classified as a novel infectious disease under the highest-level infectious diseases (Level 1) in February last year. Level 1 infectious diseases are recognized as disasters, allowing death benefits or hospitalization insurance payments related to disasters under insurance terms.

However, domestic insurance companies have yet to establish official underwriting criteria for COVID-19. Since COVID-19 is a type of pneumonia, most insurers exclude coverage for pulmonary diseases as well as bronchial diseases from their policies.

For asymptomatic COVID-19 patients, insurance enrollment is possible only after three months of recovery, and for severe cases, conditional enrollment may be allowed depending on complications or treatment methods. Some small and medium-sized insurers are known to have guidelines prohibiting insurance enrollment for at least one year after a COVID-19 recovery diagnosis.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Insurance companies explain that even after a COVID-19 recovery diagnosis, unexpected aftereffects may occur, making insurance enrollment inevitably difficult.

According to interim research results on clinical aftereffects of COVID-19 released by the Central Disease Control Headquarters, symptoms such as hair loss and shortness of breath during exercise were relatively common three months after recovery, and fatigue tended to be relatively high after six months.

Partial lung inflammation remained in some cases, and some patients developed fibrosis, where the lungs gradually harden and their function declines. In the UK, about one in three recoverees were readmitted within five months due to severe aftereffects.

An insurance industry official stated, "We do not specifically reject insurance enrollment for COVID-19 recoverees," adding, "Generally, if there is a history of past illness, underwriting examines whether hospitalization or surgery occurred within a certain period before approving enrollment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.