Death From COVID-19 Vaccine Will Not Affect Life Insurance Pay Out

But it’s still uncertain how health complications from the vaccine impacts premiums for future consumers

Constance Klein receives the Moderna vaccine at the Lestonnac Free Clinic in Orange, Calif., on March 9, 2021. John Fredricks/The Epoch Times

Getting a COVID-19 vaccine will not impact people’s life insurance policy payout in the event of death, according to the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), a trade association that represents the life insurance industry in the United States.

“Life insurance policy contracts are very clear on how policies work, and what cause, if any, might lead to the denial of a benefit,” Paul Graham, senior vice-president of ACLI said in a press release. “A vaccine for COVID-19 is not one of them.”

“Policyholders should rest assured that nothing has changed in the claims-paying process as a result of COVID-19 vaccinations,” he added.

COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, also known as the novel coronavirus.

Graham’s statements were issued after a social media post began circulating on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, claiming that receiving a COVID vaccine will affect death benefits.

However, for people who had a severe adverse reaction to the COVID-19 vaccine, it’s unclear how their health status will impact their qualification for a life insurance policy in the future and if they will have to pay higher premiums.

The Epoch Times reached out to New York Life, Northwestern Mutual, and Mass Mutual for clarification on this issue.

Only Northwestern Mutual and Mass Mutual replied and directed us to the American Council of Life Insurers’ press release regarding the “social media misinformation campaign” but did not address the other questions.

“We do know that companies rely on information they find in medical records in the underwriting process which may, or may not, include COVID-related information,” Jack Dolan, Vice President of Public Affairs at ACLI told The Epoch Times in an email. “Exactly how companies use information found in an applicant’s medical record can distinguish one from the other.”

Nurse Ellen Quinones prepares a dose of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at the Bathgate Post Office vaccination facility in the Bronx, in New York on Jan. 10, 2021. Kevin Hagen/Pool via Reuters

Life insurance companies use a “system of classifications” to determine an individual’s health that will “affect how much coverage you can get at each price point,” according to an article on Policygenius, an online insurance marketplace.

“If you’re not so healthy or have pre-existing medical conditions, your life insurance classification and rates will reflect that,” the authors said.

For people with a “complicated health history, or “had some recent [health] problems,” they could pay “as much as an extra 250 percent” on their policy premiums.

Associate Professor in the Division of Health Outcomes and Implementation Science at the University of Florida, W. Bruce Vogel, told the Associated Press that the vaccine may “limit any life insurance premium increases related to COVID-19.”

“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 said. “The fact that the vaccine is being given so widely suggests at least an implicit finding by the FDA that the potential rewards outweigh the risks.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) told The Epoch Times in a March 8 email that 1,637 people have died after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine and that more than 92 million doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines have been administered.

The two-dose messenger RNA vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer were issued an emergency use authorization on Dec. 11 and Dec. 18, 2020, respectively by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine was given emergency authorization on Feb. 27.

As of March 11, more than 38,000 cases of adverse effects to a COVID-19 vaccine have been reported on the CDC’s Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System (VAERS), a passive reporting system, which research has shown that less than one percent of reactions from vaccinations are being reported. Reports made to VAERS do not necessarily mean that a vaccine caused the reaction or event.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as of Tuesday, 84 million Americans have gotten at least one dose of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States. In addition, more than 64,000 adolescents aged 16 to 17 years are fully vaccinated against the CCP virus compared to over 45 million adults who are fully vaccinated. Pfizer’s vaccine is authorized for individuals ages 16 and up.