[Becoming an Insurance Insider] 90,000 COVID-19 Recoverees... Cannot Be Denied Insurance Enrollment

Strengthening Supervision to Prohibit Discrimination in Insurance Enrollment for Recovered Patients

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[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Hyung-gil] As the number of COVID-19 recoveries increases worldwide, the number of people in South Korea who were diagnosed with COVID-19 and have recovered reaches 100,000.

There are concerns that COVID-19 recoverees are facing difficulties in obtaining insurance as new insurance applications from COVID-19 recoverees are being denied or deferred in various countries around the world.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 11th, as of the previous day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 108,945, of which 99,301 patients have been released from isolation.

The Korea Insurance Research Institute, in its report titled 'Discussion on Insurance Enrollment Guarantees for COVID-19 Recoverees,' projected that as of the end of March, the cumulative number of COVID-19 recoveries worldwide exceeded 100 million and is expected to continue increasing until the end of the pandemic.

Although the number of recoverees is increasing as the likelihood of treatment improves even after contracting COVID-19, cases have occurred where insurance companies refuse to accept new insurance applications from these individuals.

In the United States, there have been cases where COVID-19 recoverees were denied insurance enrollment due to their medical history, despite testing negative multiple times after being declared recovered.

The UK life insurance company 'LV=' defers insurance enrollment for those who have been diagnosed with COVID-19, experienced COVID-19 symptoms, or live with someone diagnosed with COVID-19. Aviva PLC and Prudential also impose deferral periods on individuals who have previously been diagnosed with COVID-19 or experienced similar symptoms.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In South Korea, some small and medium-sized insurance companies have issued guidelines that prohibit insurance enrollment for at least one year after a COVID-19 recovery diagnosis.

Insurance companies generally take measures such as deferring insurance enrollment for disease recoverees as part of loss management. In particular, COVID-19's exact information regarding aftereffects is not yet clarified, making risk coverage and loss ratio management difficult.

However, restrictions on insurance enrollment for COVID-19 recoverees have been pointed out as potentially prolonging the pandemic or acting as obstacles to returning to normal life.

Researcher Park Eun-bin of the Korea Insurance Research Institute explained, "Restrictions on insurance enrollment for COVID-19 recoverees may discourage people from actively discovering their COVID-19 diagnosis, delaying the detection of confirmed cases and ultimately prolonging the pandemic." She added, "The financial authorities have announced plans to strictly supervise and guide insurance companies and insurance planners to ensure that recoverees are not unfairly treated when enrolling in insurance."

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