The rights of Taiwanese who hold infectious disease insurance policies are fully protected, and there is no need to rush to file claims, as there is a two-year period to register an application, the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) said on Saturday.
Legitimate claims for COVID-19 infections must be paid in accordance with the terms of the policies held, FSC Chairman Thomas Huang (黃天牧) said.
“We will make sure policyholders are protected,” Huang said at the Central Epidemic Command Center’s (CECC) daily news briefing, in response to concerns regarding the effects of a COVID-19 spike on insurers.
Photo: Tu Chien-jung, Taipei Times
He said the government-backed Financial Ombudsman Institution is working to settle the complaints it has received from infectious-disease insurance policyholders about disputed claims.
Additionally, the commission has asked insurance companies to increase their workforces to expedite the processing of claims and to handle disputes related to those policies, he added.
Huang urged policyholders not to go to hospitals for a medical certificate to verify their diagnosis, as health workers need to focus on more urgent matters, adding that the Insurance Act (保險法) allows a two-year period for a claim to be filed.
One issue facing insurance companies is a new government policy that a rapid test can be taken to confirm a COVID-19 infection, if it is verified by a doctor via videoconferencing, starting on Thursday, said lawyer Beck Liu (劉北元), who served on an Insurance Bureau panel to review life insurance products.
Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) yesterday convened an online meeting with representatives of several insurers to address issues related to policyholders’ diagnosis certificates and insurance claims, the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) reported on its Web site.
The bureau has asked insurers to allow digital certificates to be used for claims, in lieu of diagnosis certificates issued by hospitals, the Liberty Times reported. Digital certificates can be downloaded by using the National Health Insurance Mobile Easy Access (全民健保行動快易通) app, it said.
However, some insurance representatives attending the meeting were critical of the bureau’s request, saying that forgery will be a problem when using digital health certificates, while the authenticity of information provided by people rather than by doctors would be another issue facing insurers.
FSC data as of April 29 showed that there were 6 million valid infectious-disease insurance policies in Taiwan, and insurers had paid out NT$875 million (US$29.5 million) this year on 20,450 claims filed by policyholders who had either been infected with COVID-19 or listed as contacts.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-hui
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