Covid-19 in Mexico is among the most costly catastrophes for the insurance sector.
The total cost of care for people infected by Covid-19 has already placed this pandemic in the top 3 of the most expensive events for the insurance sector and if it continues as it is, it could reach second place.
The vice president of the Mexican Association of Insurance Institutions (AMIS), Edgar Karam warns that Covid-19 has already exceeded the cost of the 1985 earthquake.
It highlights that unlike other catastrophes that occur in just a few minutes, in the case of earthquakes or, at most, a few hours, in the case of hurricanes in which the damage is mainly material, in the case of the Covid virus- 19, is about to turn one year old and the generalized affectation is to people who fall ill or die.
When the insurance union began to report Covid cases, among the insured population (almost a year ago), it was in the 14th place of the most important catastrophes in the insurance industry. Since it was ranked fifth last January, it is one of the worst catastrophes we have ever experienced.
The economic amount that this pandemic has cost insurers in Mexico now amounts to 1,100 million dollars.
Hurricane Gilberto cost 1,127 million dollars and the earthquake in 2017 was 1,258 million dollars.
Covid-19 is very likely to come in second in the near future, and the numbers that companies pay to insurers are impressive.
For Medical Expense policies, with figures as of February 8, the amount amounts to 10.9 billion pesos and around 26,000 people have been covered.
In the case of Life Insurance, the amount was 11,400 million pesos, which covered 50,300 people. The cost of medical care has increased. For example, the outpatient cost -that is, from entry to exit to a hospital- is currently 16,000 pesos. Nine months ago it cost 12,000 pesos. The cost of caring for a person in a private hospital with an insurance policy is 490,000 pesos for men.
For women it is cheaper and is around 290,000 pesos. Men are more vulnerable to disease and fatality. The accident rate for Medical Expenses is high.
The percentage of each premium is 85% and is rising to 95-100%. The cost of care for each person varies, depending on the severity and time of care. Karam mentions that a patient represented a cost of almost 30 million pesos for the insurer and in the end the patient did not survive.
When the patient is required to be intubated, the cost of medical care can cost 4 million pesos. Four million pesos costs an intubation.
With the pandemic there has been an increase in the number of people who are insured.
The number of premiums as of September, for Medical Expenses, increased 9%. And in life insurance almost 5 percent. Currently, only 1.3% of the population has insurance that covers expenses against illness.
According to AMIS, it is very likely that this incident will become one of the most expensive in history, with amounts higher than those disbursed after the 1985 earthquakes.
Glimpses
BERRIES.- A good one! The Mexican government was able to demonstrate that Mexico is not a threat of harm to US agricultural producers and thereby avoided a sanction that would have represented a 300 million dollar hit for Mexican blueberry producers.
But even more encouraging is that it sets a positive precedent for another investigation being carried out in the US of Mexican perishable products that in the worst case will involve damage of up to $ 5 billion.
In addition to the good offices of the authorities of the Ministry of Economy, in particular the Undersecretary Luz María de la Mora and the coordination with the private sector led by Juan Cortina, president of the National Agricultural Confederation, the change of government helped a lot.
US President Joe Biden has a totally different attitude than Donald Trump.
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He has worked continuously in newspapers, magazines, radio, television and the Internet, in the last 31 years he has specialized in business, finance and economics. He is one of the three hosts of the Alebrijes, Águila o Sol program, a program specializing in economic issues that is broadcast on Foro TV.
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