Samsung Life Insurance expands senior health coverage to include pneumonia, robotic joint surgery

Samsung Life Insurance is launching two senior health insurance products that expand coverage for pneumonia and robotic joint replacement surgery and provide integrated benefits for treatment following a long-term care assessment.

Samsung Life announced Tuesday it will release the Samsung Senior Representative Health Insurance Comprehensive Coverage plan and the Samsung Senior Representative Health Insurance LTC Integrated Treatment plan.

The Samsung Senior Representative Health Insurance line was first introduced in July as a senior-focused product combining dementia and long-term care coverage with benefits for brain and joint conditions. Samsung Life has now revised the existing comprehensive plan and added the new LTC Integrated Treatment plan, which focuses on covering medical costs after a long-term care assessment, giving customers a broader range of options. The new lineup succeeds the Samsung Well-Aging Health Insurance, which had centered on dementia and long-term care.

The most significant change to the comprehensive plan is the addition of coverage spanning pneumonia diagnosis, hospitalization and intensive care unit treatment. The plan applies the CURB-65 clinical scale — a tool used to assess pneumonia severity — to set benefit amounts according to how serious a patient's condition is. Additional coverage for treatment at general or tertiary hospitals is available through optional riders.

Joint coverage has also been strengthened. The existing rider covering joint disease examinations, diagnoses and surgeries, including artificial joint replacement, now includes robotic knee joint replacement surgery.

The newly introduced LTC Integrated Treatment plan bundles into a single rider the coverage needed after a patient receives a long-term care rating of grade 1 through 5. Benefits include home and facility care services, hospitalization at convalescent hospitals, MRI and CT scans, surgery, intensive care, hemodialysis, blood transfusions and rehabilitation.

The LTC Integrated Treatment plan is a low-surrender-value product, meaning policyholders who cancel during the premium payment period receive a reduced refund. The plan is designed so that the refund rate reaches 100 percent or more once premium payments are complete, though it may fall short of that threshold depending on the policyholder's age, payment period and disclosure type.

Both products offer standard, health-disclosure and simplified-disclosure enrollment options, allowing customers to choose based on their health status. The comprehensive plan is open to applicants between the ages of 30 and 75, with payment periods of 15, 20 or 25 years. The LTC Integrated Treatment plan accepts applicants aged 30 to 70, with payment periods of 10, 15 or 20 years.

"For older adults, it is becoming increasingly important to prepare not only for dementia and long-term care, but also for common conditions like pneumonia and joint disease, as well as recovery after treatment," a Samsung Life official said. "By offering both the comprehensive plan with expanded everyday coverage and the LTC Integrated Treatment plan that provides integrated benefits after long-term care, we have made it possible for customers to choose what best fits their needs."