Vaccinated People Who Die From COVID-19 May Impact Insurance Costs If Deaths Continue To Rise, Experts Say

The deaths of fully immunized people from COVID-19 could impact the costs of life insurance if vaccinated individuals continue dying from the virus, experts told the Daily Caller News Foundation.

COVID-19 vaccinations are not a major factor when a life insurance agency determines prices, but that could change if immunized people continue to die from the coronavirus, an expert told the DCNF. Despite the number of fully immunized people that have died from the virus, life insurance carriers do not consider whether a person has been vaccinated when reviewing an application.

“Vaccines don’t affect prices at all. They don’t ask if you’re vaccinated, they only ask if you’ve been exposed or have exhibited COVID-19 symptoms,” Jason Veirs, owner and president of Insurance Experts Solutions, told the DCNF. “If you buy a policy, they do all the underwriting about a person’s health and if a person does not have COVID, prices are low.”

Veirs told the DCNF there is a possibility the vaccine could be a contributing factor in determining the cost of life insurance if an increasing number of people continue to die from the virus after being immunized.

Only 74 cases of fully immunized people dying from COVID-19 complications have occurred, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported. Overall, 5,814 out of roughly 75 million fully immunized people contracted the virus, according to the CDC.

No, getting the COVID vaccine will not affect your life insurance policy, according to the Louisiana Department of Insurance.

The department is working to get the word out after rumors have begun circulating on social media.

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Veirs said insurance prices are given before a person receives the vaccine and remain the same after immunization. Jack Dolan, vice president of public affairs at the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), told the DCNF that prices regarding deaths from COVID-19 range depending on the company.

“Companies make their own decisions on costs and the wide range of issues relating to providing financial protection to individuals and families,” Dolan said.

Veirs said insurers ask applicants if they have been exposed or have symptoms of COVID-19 which could delay or limit access to insurance. Eloise Spinello, a life insurance expert at Policygenius, told AARP that a person who tests positive for COVID or had been exposed may have their application postponed.

“It has become relatively common for survivors of COVID-19 to have their life insurance application be postponed for 30 days and provide medical records or other valid evidence that they are fully recovered,” Spinello said, according to AARP.

The ACLI Senior Health Actuary Jan Graeber said there is a possibility that a company could take vaccinations into consideration,  but it plays a minor role compared to other health factors.

“With respect to COVID-19, when underwriting new coverage, companies might consider both near-term impacts (e.g., the impact of the vaccine, new strains of the virus and changes in consumer behavior regarding risk mitigation efforts) and long-term health impacts of COVID-19, including the long-term impact on those who contract the virus and recover, ” Graeber told the DCNF. “The COVID vaccine does not impact life insurance costs for coverage that is already in place.”

Companies tend to prioritize healthy habits and activities rather than vaccinations, Graeber told the DCNF.

One expert, W. Bruce Vogel, told the Associated Press that the vaccine will only increase the price of insurance if it leads to a rise in the mortality rate, otherwise the prices will remain the same.

“Only if the vaccine itself increased mortality would you expect it to increase life insurance premiums, and there is no evidence of that so far,” Vogel told the AP. “The fact that the vaccine is being given so widely suggests at least an implicit finding by the FDA that the potential awards outweigh the risks.”

The vaccines have a high rate of efficacy with Pfizer obtaining a 95% efficacy rate and Moderna at 90%, according to Yale Medicine.