Insurance claims related to COVID-19 reached P16.71 billion from 2020 to 2021, the Department of Finance (DOF) said Saturday, citing data from the Insurance Commission (IC).
In a statement, the DOF said over half or around P9.05 billion of COVID-19-related insurance claims were life insurance policies.
Citing the IC’s report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III, the Finance Department said 23 percent or P3.89 billion of COVID-related claims were paid between the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 up to end-2020, while the other 77 percent or P12.82 billion were claimed in 2021.
IC Commissioner Dennis Funa said that for life insurance policies, the amount of P9.05 billion in claims corresponds to about 9,500 death benefits.
Meanwhile, the application for the COVID-19 Adjustment Measures Program or CAMP3, a one-time P5,000 aid to workers in the private sector affected by the declaration of Alert Level 3 or higher, was officially closed on March 4, the Department of Labor and Employment said.
Labor Secretary Silvestre H. Bello III, in an advisory released on Friday, informed the public the DOLE has already stopped accepting online applications for the CAMP 3 assistance on March 4.
However, should Alert Level 3 be reimposed, the system will be opened and start accepting applications for CAMP.
Dominguez noted in Funa’s report that compared with data from the Department of Health (DOH) of around 51,000 deaths as of end-2021 attributed to COVID-19, less than a fifth, or only 18.6%, were covered by insurance based on IC data.
The Finance Secretary said the low insurance coverage rate for pandemic-related deaths underscores the importance of securing financial protection to prepare for emergencies and other unexpected incidents.
Funa said the rest of the pandemic-related insurance claims in 2020 and 2021 were from health maintenance organizations (HMOs), which made up 39% or P6.44 billion of the payouts, mutual benefit associations (MBAs) with a 5% share at P833 million, and non-life policies with 2% or P382 million.
“Notably, the out-patient benefit, meaning people who were not confined in the hospital, have the highest number of claims paid with 413,000 for the whole of 2021. Followed by claims under other benefits at 54,000,” said Funa.
The IC chief said that for 2021 alone, death benefits had the biggest share with P6.8 billion or 53% of the total payout, followed by in-patient benefits or those confined at hospitals at 27% or P3.5 billion.
Out-patient benefits for 2021 accounted for 15% or P1.92 billion of the claims, he added.
In 2020, Funa said the biggest chunk of COVID-related claims came from the HMO sector with P1.9 billion or 49% of the payouts, while life insurance accounted for P1.46 billion or 38%.
The rest were non-life insurance claims amounting to P160.2 million or 4% and MBAs with P354.9 million or 9%.
“It is noteworthy that within 2021, all four industries have already exceeded 35 percent of their claims payment for the entire 2020,” said Funa.
The IC chief said he has not received any indication from the insurance industry of any increase in premiums following this development as he believes it continues to have the capacity to absorb these payouts.
He also pointed out that the P3.8 billion in COVID-related claims in 2020 made up only 3% of the total benefit payments of P120.76 billion in all four sectors—life, non-life, HMO, and MBAs.
The P12.82 billion in COVID-related claims in 2021 was 10.25% of benefit payments totaling P112.19 billion as of the third quarter of that year, said Funa.
“Despite this, the insurance and HMO industries remain resilient and in fact, all four sectors posted net income for the third quarter of 2021,” he said Funa.
The total assets, investments, premium, and net income of the insurance and HMO industries exhibited growths of 12.91%, 14.84%, 24.93%, and 17.28% respectively, added Funa.
Bello further clarified in Labor Advisory No. 06 series of 2022 that DOLE shall continue to process and evaluate all applications received before the system’s closure.
Applicants with submitted applications may track the status of their application on https://reports.dole.gov.ph/track_application.
“DOLE is ready to continue providing support to affected workers through its various assistance programs and employment facilitation services,” Bello said.
As of March 6, DOLE has already approved the CAMP 3 application of 29,973 workers.
The National Capital Region reported the greatest number of applicant workers with 58,008 or 35 percent of applications, followed by CALABARZON with 18,935 or 11 percent, and Region III with 17,024 or 10 percent.
Most of the workers who have applied for CAMP came from establishments that implemented temporary closures.
Moreover, most of the applicant establishments belong to micro (2,714 or 51 percent) and small (2,324 or 44 percent) enterprises.
The DOLE CAMP3 was launched in January 2022 to help workers affected by the temporary or permanent closure of businesses and retrenchment of companies when the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) placed several areas in the country under Alert Level 3 or higher.