Around 1.3 million people in the UK had long Covid last December, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics, with more than 0.5 million saying it had lasted for more than a year. With symptoms ranging from loss of smell to fatigue and breathlessness, health insurance professionals are watching this space closely.
What’s particularly concerning is that these figures are only likely to increase over the next 12 months.
Howden Employee Benefits & Wellbeing head of benefits strategy Steve Herbert says: “There are more cases to come through following the recent Omicron wave and the figures for people who have had long Covid for more than a year won’t yet include those who were infected by the Delta or Omicron variants. There are still plenty of unknowns but I do expect to see many more people reporting long Covid.”
To illustrate this, he points to the numbers reporting long Covid symptoms that had lasted over a year. While the total was increasing by between 4,000 and 21,000 each month from August 2021, it spiked by an additional 66,000 in December, reflecting the Alpha variant wave which hit the previous year.
Covid claims
Covid-related claims make up a significant proportion of those seen by both medical insurance and income protection providers. For instance, between January and September 2021, one in 20 of the new income protection claims received by Unum was for Covid or Long Covid.
Unum director of claims, rehabilitation and medical services Paula Coffey expects this level of Covid-related claims to continue. “We haven’t seen a significant drop off in claims since last September,” she says. “We also ran some research among SMEs last May which found that 35 per cent of them had already had people off with long Covid.”
Another indication of the level of Covid-related claims being borne by the sector comes from Group Risk Development. In the first half of 2021, insurers paid £125.7m in group life benefits to the families of employees who died from Covid-19. This was in addition to £93m for this type of claim in 2020.
Pricing potential
Dealing with these claims is likely to affect premiums. “Inevitably it will put pressure on premiums, although the extent is still unknown,” says Herbert. “Many cases of long Covid will fall within the deferred period on group income protection but some of the more severe cases could potentially last longer.”
Shifts in working patterns may also take some of the pressure off income protection claims. For instance, Protection Guru head of research Adam Higgs points to an employee with a broken leg. “Before the pandemic, this might have stopped them being able to come into the office. Now, they can work from home and wouldn’t need to claim.”
While home working may take some of the pressure off claims volumes, insurers are also having to factor in the cost of rehabilitation services to support employees with long Covid. Most insurers now offer some form of service, typically multidisciplinary to cover the variety of symptoms, which will add to the cost of their proposition.
Treatment options
As an example, Healix Health Services offers an optional long Covid benefit for its healthcare trust clients. This includes mental health consultations, physiotherapy and complementary therapies. “We’re monitoring treatments closely,” says Healix Health Services director of trust sales Susie Morris. “There are lots of unknowns around long Covid and, as we learn more, we’ll adapt the services accordingly.”
The NHS is also setting out referral pathways for long Covid but there are concerns that, given the pressures the health service is under, these may not be effective. “The earlier you can intervene and provide someone with support, the better,” says Dr Julie Denning, managing director of Working to Wellbeing. “There’s a strong evidence base for vocational rehabilitation for people with long Covid.”
Evidence of its success can be seen in the Covid-related cases Unum has seen. Of the cases resolved between Feb 2020 and October 2021, 95 per cent had either returned to work or an agreed outcome. “You do need to offer very individualised support,” adds Coffey. “The symptoms can vary but the barriers can be very different too.”
Access to support
With long Covid more likely to affect the working age population, Herbert would like to see employers doing more to support employees who contract it. “Long Covid could potentially be a much bigger problem than Covid-19 from an employer’s perspective. The problem is that there’s not enough national awareness of the condition,” he says.
Dr Denning agrees. She says that employers need support to raise awareness of the long Covid products that are available. “Many insurers have introduced long Covid support but employers need education around the condition and how these services can help,” she says. “The good news is that this will create a helpful template for other long-term conditions.”
Higgs also questions the motives of some insurers behind introducing long Covid support. “I do sense that it’s a bit of a tick box exercise for some insurers. They need to do more to
promote these services and encourage employees to use them,” he adds.
Future health and wellbeing strategies
Some insurers are recognising this and focusing on raising awareness of the value of these services. For instance, Coffey says that she saw a reduction in referrals for rehabilitation towards the end of 2020. “There was no reason why fewer people would need rehabilitation so we stepped up our work around education,” she explains. “We arranged a roundtable, produced educational material and training and launched a wellbeing calendar for employers to remind them what we could offer. It made a huge difference.”
Educating employers and their employees about these services is helpful but Herbert believes the pandemic has resulted in a change in mindset around health and wellbeing. “It’s pushed health up the corporate agenda,” he says. “Employers and employees recognise the value of group risk products such as life insurance and income protection as well as health insurances that allow them to bypass the NHS waiting lists. There’s already a lot more interest in workplace health and wellbeing and, with long Covid set to be around after the pandemic has gone, I don’t expect this will change.”
BOX: Long Covid – the facts and figures
What is long Covid?
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence defines long Covid as signs and symptoms persisting
after the first four weeks following infection, encompassing both ongoing symptomatic (4-12 weeks) and post-Covid-19 syndrome (longer than 12 weeks).
What are the symptoms of long Covid?
Symptoms are variable and wide-ranging affecting areas including cardiovascular, psychological and musculoskeletal health. Of those reported to the ONS, the most common are fatigue (51%), loss of smell (37%), shortness of breath (36%) and difficulty concentrating (28%).
How many people have long Covid in the UK?
The ONS figures, which run up to early December 2021, show that an estimate 1.3 million people – equivalent to 2% of the population – have Long Covid.
What proportion of people who have a Covid-19 diagnosis develop long Covid?
Around one in five people have symptoms for five weeks or longer, according to the ONS, with one in 10 experiencing symptoms for 12 weeks plus.
How severe are symptoms?
Nearly two thirds (64%) say their symptoms adversely affect their day-to-day activities, with 20% saying they limited their ability a lot.
Who is more likely to get
long Covid?
ONS data shows that the prevalence of long Covid was greatest in a number of groups including: people aged 35 to 69 years; women; people living in deprived areas; people working in health and social care andeducation; and those with another activity-limiting health condition.