Getting COVID-19 Vaccine Does Not Affect Life Insurance Payouts

CLAIM: If you receive the COVID-19 vaccine and die, insurance companies will not pay out on the policy because the vaccine is experimental.

THE FACTS: Life insurance policies have not changed because of the COVID-19 vaccination and getting the shot will not impact whether a policy pays out in the event of death, according to the American Council of Life Insurers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given emergency use authorization to three COVID-19 vaccines after finding them safe and effective following three phases of clinical trials involving thousands of people.

Since the posts began surfacing last week, the American Council of Life Insurers has received a flood of calls asking about the false claim. The ACLI released a news release debunking the erroneous information, explaining that the vaccine does not change whether a policyholder receives their benefit.

Life insurance policies outline when death benefits are paid and the payments are made regardless of the cause of death, said Jan Graeber, a senior health actuary at ACLI. "Life insurance is pretty straight forward," she said. "It pays from death."

Posts making the false claim about death benefits were shared across Twitter, Facebook and TikTok. "I just spoke with my insurance company, because I was curious, that if I got the vaccine for COVID and passed away from complications, would my life insurance policy be valid. Well. Guess what?? They confirmed they would not pay out my policy, because the vaccine is experimental. Wake up!!!," one Facebook post said.