- The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions presented its annual activity report.
- There is a disease that is considered the most expensive in the history of insurers in Mexico and for which they have had to pay 3,217 million dollars.
- The figure is above the damage caused by natural disasters such as the earthquakes of September 19, 1985 and 2017.
Health is the most valuable thing a person has. To achieve optimal well-being it is necessary to make lifestyle changes. From a balanced diet to physical exercise are the main habits that must be adopted. But even with all preventative measures there are always risks. With this in mind, Do you know what has been the most expensive disease that insurers have had to pay for?
The answer may be obvious to some people because it is about Covid-19. In fact, we are almost three years away from the first case registered in Mexico. It was February 27, 2020 when the arrival of this disease in our country was announced. Since then, insurers have paid a total of 3 thousand 217 million dollars for life and major medical expenses insurance.
The Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS) reported that this figure is above disasters such as the 1985 and 2017 earthquakes. In those cases, it paid 1,093 million dollars and 1,441 million dollars, respectively.
The most expensive disease in history
For his part, Alice Roses, executive director of AMIS, explained that in April three years ago there were 569 families that had received insurance benefits. While by December 2022 the accumulated was 208 thousand 516 families.
In particular, 51 thousand 486 families obtained the benefits of a medical expenses insurance for an accumulated amount paid of 26 thousand 765 million pesos. The figure is equivalent to 26.2 million pesos a day.
In April 2020, the amount that families would have paid to receive medical care amounted to 347,507 pesos. By the end of 2022 this figure was 519 thousand 854 pesos.
On the other hand, 157 thousand 30 families of people with a life insurance they received an average payment of 228 thousand 501 pesos. This represents a total accumulated amount of 35 thousand 881 million pesos, which is equivalent to 35 million pesos per day. It is estimated that of the total number of people who died, 47.4% had the protection of life insurance.
During the first quarter of 2020, the death of 2,675 policyholders was recorded. For the same period in 2021, 33,095 people lost their lives due to the pandemic. By the fourth quarter of 2022, the number decreased to 1,290 as the disease became less aggressive and more Mexicans were vaccinated.
The states with the largest insured population with Covid-19
According to AMIS, 62% of the cases of the insured population with Covid-19 are concentrated in four entities: Mexico City (16,196); Nuevo León (6 thousand 577); State of Mexico (5 thousand 595) and Jalisco (3 thousand 682).
By type of care, as of December last year, 63% of the cases required hospitalization, which exceeded the average cost of care of 593 thousand 423 pesos.
While 4 thousand 880 insured were admitted to an intensive care unit with an average cost of 1.4 million pesos.
Insurance, an important player during the Covid-19 pandemic
For all of the above, during the Covid-19 pandemic, medical expense insurance demonstrated that it is a tool not only to protect the health of Mexicans, but also their financial stability. Thanks to him, many families have maintained their quality of life, despite facing a high-cost disease.
For the families of the people who died, life insurance allowed them to maintain their lifestyle. It is estimated that on average it takes 3 years to recover from the death or disability of their main economic provider.
Also read:
Guide to acquire medical expenses insurance for your collaborators
What are Major Medical Expense Insurance and how do they work?
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