Health insurance does not cover earthquakes

kahramanmaras Although the earthquake caused tens of thousands of deaths and injured hundreds of thousands of citizens, the new earthquake warnings issued by experts for the country revealed the need for a series of regulations from buildings to the health system. In this process, while the health and insurance sector came to the fore, private health insurance legislation was also a topic of discussion, especially the complementary one, which excludes disasters such as earthquakes, floods and terrorism.

CHANGES OF SITUATION IN THE METROPOLES

An industry representative we interviewed on the subject noted that private health insurance did not pay for earthquake injuries under the general terms, and companies voluntarily made payments because the number of insured was low in the Kocaeli earthquake. 1999 and the Kahramanmaraş earthquake. However, the sector representative pointed out that the situation may be different in the event of an earthquake that may occur in metropolitan areas such as Istanbul and Izmir, noting that the fact that private health insurance does not pay for injuries caused by the earthquake would create great insecurity, and that the general conditions should be regulated here.

CONDITIONS OUT OF WARRANTY

In accordance with the general conditions of health insurance, situations such as ‘earthquake, flood, volcanic eruption and landslide’ are included in the scope of ‘excluded cases unless otherwise contracted’. In the statement made by the Turkish Insurance Association, it was estimated that more than TL 20 billion in total would be paid out by the entire sector, according to initial calculations, in the earthquake region.

Companies covered by insurance

The Turkish Insurance Association, whose opinions we consulted, drew attention to the fact that natural disasters such as earthquakes and floods can be covered by supplementary contracts in private and supplementary health insurance according to the law.

In the statement, it was noted that the sector is here with the citizens, “However, as was seen both after the 1999 Gölcük earthquake and other earthquakes, as well as during the Covid-19 epidemic, our sector is always with the insured and although you are not covered by the coverage and no premium has been received for this risk, the corresponding treatment in the health insurances paid for your expenses Regarding the recent earthquake in Kahramanmaraş, our member health insurance companies take the initiative and cover treatment expenses within the scope of complementary and private health insurance.