The insurance industry paid out P5.65 billion in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) related claims in 2022, posting a sharp drop from the previous year as recorded cases have declined.
Based on a statement released by the Insurance Commission (IC), the COVID-related claim payouts fell by 55.93 percent last year from the P12.82 billion recorded in 2021.
The IC has conducted semestral surveys among regulated entities regarding their COVID-related paid out claims since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
Based on the commission’s surveys, the insurance industry has paid out claims amounting to P22.36 billion related to the COVID-19 from 2020 to 2022, with P3.89 billion released in 2020 alone.
According to the IC’s latest report which focused on the second semester of 2022 alone, COVID-related claims paid by insurers fell by 80 percent in the second half of last year to P1.53 billion from P7.65 billion in the same time frame in 2021.
Insurance companies and health maintenance organizations (HMOs) paid a total of 137,478 claims in July to December 2022 versus the 359,622 claims processed in the same period the prior year.
The number of claims paid during the second half of 2022 tracked the declining trend of COVID-19 cases during that period, the IC said.
COVID-related claim payouts made by life insurance companies amounted to P987 million, while HMOs paid out P483 million in COVID-related claims for the second half of 2022.
Meanwhile, mutual benefit associations and non-life insurers paid out a total of P33 million in COVID-related claims for that period.
