HOUSTON — There is a lot of misinformation spreading on social media about the vaccine. One post claims if you die after getting the shot, life insurance providers could deny your beneficiaries their benefits. Some of you wanted the Verify team to find out if that’s true.
The posts are popping up on Twitter and spreading fast.
One reads, in part, “If you die from the COVID vaccine, your loved ones can’t collect life insurance because the vaccine is deemed experimental.”
Another poster claims, “Insurance companies won’t pay out on life insurance if you die from the COVID vaccine.”
Denise and Jim asked us to Verify, “Is it true that if an individual dies as a result of receiving a vaccination and they have a life insurance policy that said policy will not be paid out?”
We have two sources for this, The American Council of Life Insurers and the FDA.
We are going to answer both questions. First, is this an experimental treatment?
The FDA has authorized the Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines for emergency use, which allows them to be used during a public health emergency such as a pandemic. Experimental treatments are not approved by a government regulatory authority. Therefore, the Covid-19 vaccine is not considered experimental.
Secondly, will insurance not pay out on a policy if someone dies from the Covid vaccine?
The ACLI told the Verify team, “There is absolutely no truth to that rumor.”
The agency also addressed the rumor on its website, “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.”
So, we can Verify these claims are false.
The ACLI says, rest assured, the vaccine has not changed anything in the claims-paying process. Furthermore, if you do have any questions or concerns, you can always just contact your agent.