Life Insurance And Experimental Drug Deaths: What's Covered?

There have been claims that life insurance companies will deny payouts to beneficiaries of policyholders who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, as the vaccine is considered an experimental drug. However, these claims are baseless and have been debunked by insurance companies and associations worldwide. In the United States, life insurance policies typically pay for any death, regardless of cause, and suicides are usually covered after the policy has been held for two years. The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) has stated that life insurers do not consider whether or not a policyholder has received a COVID-19 vaccine when deciding whether to pay a claim. Similarly, insurance companies in France and other countries have stated that COVID-19 vaccinations do not impact life insurance claims and are not considered experimental.

Life insurance companies in the US will not deny payment if someone dies from a COVID-19 vaccine

This statement was made in response to a viral social media post that falsely claimed that beneficiaries of a person who dies after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine cannot collect life insurance payments. The post, uploaded by an account called texasseceded, read: "My friends aunt recently died from the COVID vaccine. She was denied her life insurance because... she willingly took an EXPERIMENTAL drug."

The ACLI has been calling out similar bogus claims since March 2021. Whit Cornman, an ACLI spokesman, stated that the organization represents 280 companies with 95% of the industry assets in the US. Despite the false claims, the ACLI maintains that life insurance is there to protect families financially if the unthinkable should happen.

In addition to the statements from the ACLI, state insurance regulators in Louisiana, New York, and Texas have all issued statements refuting the claims that life insurance companies will deny payment if someone dies from a COVID-19 vaccine. Furthermore, a French court ruling that deemed a COVID-19 vaccine-related death a suicide has also been debunked by the French Federation of Insurers, who stated that "The rumor that insurance companies would refuse to pay life insurance if the deceased had been vaccinated against Covid-19 continues to circulate on social networks. This is false information."

COVID-19 vaccines are not experimental

In the US and UK, all approved vaccines have completed animal and clinical trials. Oxford University, for instance, confirmed that the vaccine it created with AstraZeneca has undergone animal trials in the UK, US and Australia. Pfizer and BioNTech also released information in September 2020 about the effects of their mRNA vaccine in mice and non-human primates. Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have released similar information.

All four approved vaccines in the US and UK have published results from the final phase three trials. Pfizer/BioNTech's phase three trial began in late July 2020 and the results were published in December 2020. The trial enrolled 46,331 participants at 153 sites around the world. Oxford/AstraZeneca's clinical trials involved 23,848 people across the UK, Brazil, and South Africa between April and November 2020. Johnson & Johnson recruited 44,325 people for its phase three clinical trial between September 2020 and January 2021, while Moderna had 30,420 volunteers for the same phase of testing between July and October 2020.

The claim that COVID-19 vaccines are "experimental" is false. They have not skipped animal testing and have completed initial research trials. While Moderna and Pfizer did receive approval to run animal testing and early trials on humans concurrently, animal trials were not skipped.

COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe

In the case of the COVID-19 vaccines, the most common side effects are mild and temporary, such as pain at the injection site, fatigue, headache, or muscle pain. As with any vaccine, there is a small risk of severe allergic reactions, but these are rare and can be treated. It is important to note that the safety of the COVID-19 vaccines is continuously monitored through various surveillance programs and reporting systems, such as the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) and the CDC's Vaccine Safety Datalink. These systems help quickly identify any potential safety issues and rare adverse events.

While there have been concerns and debates about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines, the data and evidence strongly support their safety and effectiveness. The vaccines have undergone extensive testing and monitoring, and the benefits of protection against severe illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 outweigh the rare occurrences of adverse events. Health organizations and experts worldwide continue to recommend vaccination as the best way to protect oneself and others from the virus.

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) has refuted the claim that life insurance policies may deny payment if someone dies from a COVID-19 vaccine

The ACLI's statement is in response to social media claims that life insurance companies will deny payouts to deceased individuals who have received the COVID-19 vaccine. These claims began circulating in March 2021 and have been deemed false by various organizations, including PolitiFact, Forbes, and FactCheck.org. The Louisiana Department of Insurance, the New York Department of Financial Services, and the Texas Department of Insurance have also addressed this misinformation and confirmed that life insurance benefits will not be denied due to COVID-19 vaccination status.

The original social media claim stated that a "friend's aunt recently died from the COVID vaccine and was denied her life insurance because... she willingly took an EXPERIMENTAL vaccine". However, this claim provides no names or supporting evidence and has been deemed baseless. In reality, life insurance policy contracts are clear about how policies work and what causes, if any, may lead to the denial of benefits. A COVID-19 vaccine is not listed as a cause for denial of benefits.

Furthermore, the ACLI has previously debunked similar claims made about U.S. insurers denying coverage for alleged vaccine-related deaths. In a statement from May 21, 2021, Paul Graham, senior vice president for policy development at the ACLI, emphasized that "life insurance policy contracts are very clear on how policies work, and what cause, if any, might lead to the denial of a benefit. A vaccine for COVID-19 is not one of them".

It is important to note that while there have been reports of a life insurance company in France denying payment to a man who died from the COVID-19 vaccine, this is an isolated case and is not indicative of standard practices in the insurance industry.

The French Federation of Insurers has also denied this claim

The French Federation of Insurers has denied the claim that life insurance does not cover death from experimental drugs. In an email to FactCheck.org, a spokesperson for the federation, Jean-Baptiste Mounier, stated:

> "The rumor that insurance companies would refuse to pay life insurance if the deceased had been vaccinated against Covid-19 continues to circulate on social networks. This is false information."

This statement was made in response to a video produced by America's Frontline Doctors, a group that has been known to spread misinformation about COVID-19. The video, narrated by Dr. Peterson Pierre, claimed that a French insurance company refused to pay life insurance benefits to the beneficiaries of a man who died after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. According to the video, the insurance company deemed the vaccine "a medical experiment."

However, this claim has been debunked by multiple sources, including the French Federation of Insurers, the French Ministry of Justice, and the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI). The ACLI, in particular, has stated that life insurance policies do not consider whether or not a policyholder has received a COVID-19 vaccine when deciding whether to pay a claim. Furthermore, the ACLI has clarified that life insurance policy contracts are clear about how policies work and what causes, if any, might lead to the denial of benefits, and a COVID-19 vaccine is not one of those causes.

In addition, the French Ministry of Justice has confirmed that it has no knowledge of any court ruling supporting the decision of insurance companies to refuse to pay out life insurance due to death following COVID-19 vaccination. The specific case mentioned in the video, involving a wealthy elderly man from Versailles, has been deemed fabricated, with no evidence of its occurrence.

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