“The COVID Vaccine is considered experimental! Receiving this vaccine can disqualify your loved ones from claiming benefits on your life insurance policy if you die as a result of vaccine complications.”
Wait a second… aren’t vaccines here to protect us and save lives? Wouldn’t getting this vaccine actually be a benefit for life insurance companies?
This is the message spreading across social media lately and people are questioning if getting vaccinated will actually cancel out their life insurance policy. Misinformation has been so prevalent amongst COVID that it’s hard to decipher facts from fiction. Of course, we’re not scientists so we’ll leave it to them to debunk any COVID misinformation but we do know a thing or two about life insurance so we wanted to chime in on this one.
Let’s break this rumor apart –
Rumor # 1: “The COVID Vaccine is considered experimental.”
Currently, there are three vaccines that have been approved by the FDA for emergency use authorization. Essentially that means that there has been enough data and clinical trials on these vaccines for the FDA to determine that they are safe and effective, and that benefits of receiving the vaccine outweigh risks associated. Governmental bodies do not approve experimental drugs for wide usage amongst our population. Therefore, if you are receiving a Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson and Johnson vaccine (as of March 2021), you are not receiving a drug that is considered to be experimental.
Rumor # 2: “If you die as a result of vaccine complications, your life insurance policy will not pay the claim.”
Though there have been several renditions of this rumor circulating, one that originated in Canada said that a woman contacted her insurance company and they “confirmed” that this was true, and they would not pay. That insurance company has since put out a statement saying this is false and that receiving a vaccine will not impact anybody’s life insurance policy.
Here in the US, The American Council of Life Insurers as well as individual insurers have also released statements echoing the same information – there is no base to this rumor and your life insurance policy will not be affected upon being vaccinated.
Furthermore, vaccination history is not part of today’s insurance underwriting process and that has not changed as a result of this vaccine. When applying for life insurance and going through your medical history and health status, it is not a regular practice to for insurers to ask about vaccination records. Now this might change in the future, but according to Haven Life Underwriting Solutions this could actually help people attain more affordable life insurance policies if vaccinated.*
We’ve all heard the phrase “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet” and it continues to hold true here. Vaccination is a personal choice, but your life insurance policy shouldn’t play a role in it.
*Source: https://havenlife.com/blog/covid-vaccine-life-insurance/
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.