The Insurance Commission (IC) has asked insurers and companies selling health care packages and other forms of insurance to not only sell policies to those infected by COVID-19 but also speed up services.
Insurance Commissioner Dennis B. Funa, in a circular issued on March 25, said all these companies are “strongly encouraged” to service COVID-19 patients.
Funa also urged life and nonlife insurance companies and other related firms to “waive provisions” in health insurance contracts “that may become barriers to health care access and treatment.”
But his circular said heeding his suggestions would be just voluntary on the part of the companies.
Last Monday, Funa issued an order to allow insurance firms to provide additional benefits, or free insurance coverage, to clients hit by COVID-19 without seeking IC approval.
In a statement, the Philippine Life Insurance Association Inc. said its member-companies had “activated work-from-home measures and business continuity plans” that would make sure the companies don’t collapse and leave clients holding empty bags.
“As responsible corporate citizens, our members are, in their individual capacities, adopting various actions,” the group said in its statement.