Fact check: If you get the COVID vaccine, could you lose insurance coverage?

More than 167 million Americans have received at least their first dose of the COVID vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

But some people are still reluctant to take the shot, whether because of its hasty development and rollout or general qualms about vaccines.

Another factor causing trepidation for some is the question of whether taking the vaccine will impact health and life insurance coverage.

Online misinformation has spread the impression that any side effects of COVID vaccines won’t be covered by your current insurance policy.

If that’s why you’re holding off on getting vaccinated, you needn’t worry. Here’s more on how insurance providers are handling the vaccine and how you can shop for coverage with confidence.

Will the vaccine affect your health insurance?

No one wants to receive a surprise medical bill or rejected claim, especially when they’re recovering from an illness.

If you’re planning to shop around for an affordable health insurance plan before open enrollment closes May 15, you may be worrying about how getting vaccinated against COVID may impact your options.

While all the currently available vaccines were rigorously tested before being approved for mass use, they’re still new drugs. A certain amount of caution when it comes to your health is never a bad thing.

But the CDC has said all vaccines included in the ongoing rollout are safe and effective, so your insurance provider won’t be the one to stand in the way of you getting a shot.

The only way you may be denied coverage is if you get sick before your policy clears the standard 15- to 30-day waiting period.

That would be unfortunate, but it’s all the more reason to lock in a policy sooner than later.

Will it affect your life insurance?

Recently, a rumor has been circulating online that a woman was told by her life insurance provider that if she were to die after receiving a COVID vaccine, her family wouldn’t receive a death benefit because the vaccine is “experimental.”

The insurance company in question, Manulife, has spoken out to deny the claims and clarify that the approved vaccines, which are not experimental, have no impact either on claims or on future coverage.

Another post went viral through Instagram, where a woman claimed her friend’s aunt died from the COVID vaccine and her life insurance claim was denied.

Both posts have been pulled down from the social media sites for spreading false information, but the fears behind them are real.

As Americans have spent the last year coming to grips with a once-in-a-century pandemic, being on high alert has become the norm.

But with the rumors swirling, the insurance industry is keen to set the record straight.

Whit Cornman, a spokesperson for the American Council of Life Insurers, confirmed Factcheck.org in an email that life insurers do not consider whether a policyholder has received the COVID vaccine when determining whether to pay out a claim,

In reality, he adds, there are very few occasions where your life insurance company can deny your claim. The most common reasons involve policyholders lying or withholding relevant information on their applications.

So if you were honest during the application phase, you have nothing to worry about — provided you don’t get sick before your policy clears the waiting period.

With that fear quelled, you can shop worry-free for an affordable life insurance policy to ensure your family will be covered if anything were to happen to you.

What about your other policies?

Most people think of insurance as something they have to get just in case. But if you just snapped up the first insurance policy you found, you may be overpaying by hundreds of dollars every month.

The best way to save yourself some money on your various insurance policies is by comparing at least three quotes before settling on an offer. But that process doesn’t have to be as much work as it sounds like.

Once your health and life policies are squared away, why not use a quote-comparing site to automatically compare rates for other forms of insurance?

Finding a more affordable auto policy and homeowners policy could help free up another few hundred dollars in your budget every month.

With those concerns about the vaccines put to rest and all this extra money in your pocket, you may soon be on to more important worries like deciding how you should spend your surplus.