The former Minister of Health and medical director of the San Fernando Hospital Clinic, José Manuel Terán, expressed this Sunday his fear that at some point private insurers decide to restrict coverage due to the exponential expense that represents the response they provide to people who do not are vaccinated against COVID-19.

He pointed out that the pandemic “if it represents a risk (for the private health sector) and also for people insured by private insurance, spending on private insurance is exponential, not only in terms of health, but also due to deaths, I have a lot of fear that at some point insurers will restrict the coverage they currently have, and I would say why I have to pay a premium that increases annually for people who are going to hospitals, that is, the unvaccinated, and they are consuming my right to private insurance, which could definitely have an impact."

He added that in that sense, private insurers could make the decision whether or not to increase the insurance premium to those who are not vaccinated.

“There is an exclusion in terms of pandemic declarations in the policies, so the insurance companies said we are going to cover this, even though that exclusion may exist, and my concern is that from now on (they say) I will not cover it. I am going to cover the unvaccinated, because there is already a tool that has already proven its effectiveness for prevention,” explained Terán in the Sunday Open Debate program.

He added that this could be another way to motivate people to go to vaccinate, stating that this would not consist of forcing people, but a regulation, because the common good must prevail over the particular good.

"I am not forcing them, but a sensible person would simply go and vaccinate because if he is not going to have to pay for it out of pocket, that is what this expense represents, which is a lot," he said.