There are countless unanswered questions in relation to Long COVID – not only from a medical and scientific perspective, but from a legal one too: Who should bear the cost of an affected person’s treatment and their loss of income? How can we objectively define the various medical complaints? It was with these questions in mind that the Covid Long-Term Consequences Association was set up. The association was founded in January 2021 and aims to promote the correct assessment of long-term consequences suffered by people infected with COVID-19 from both a legal perspective and an insurance medicine perspective.
Members discuss specialist legal topics and network with their peers, with the aim of tracking developments in the jurisdiction. They also gain experience in working with panels of experts and disputes with insurance companies, as well as insurance-medicine findings.
The association is made up of people with professional specialization in insurance medicine.
The association currently includes four Swiss Bar Association (SBA) specialists in liability and insurance law (i.e. attorneys with professional specialism in insurance law and patient advocacy) as well as a neurology specialist.
How does collaboration with Altea work?
Members of the Covid Long-Term Consequences Association will in future be discussing current topics relating to insurance law and insurance medicine in Altea blog articles. Topics may include developments in legal practice such as court judgments, for example.
The first cantonal court judgments in the field of accident insurance (Long COVID as an occupational illness?) are expected in the next 3–9 months. In the field of daily sickness benefits insurance and IV/AI, it may take a little longer at around 12–18 months. Until then, the members of the association will take common questions from people affected by Long COVID and answer the more general ones in the blog. If you are interested in submitting a question, you can do so using the contact form.
What options are available to people affected by Long COVID?
People affected by Long COVID can find specific information on various issues relating to insurance medicine and insurance law on the website of the Covid Long-Term Consequences Association. There are answers to questions such as: Is COVID-19 an occupational illness? (German) This is crucial in determining whether the occupational accident insurance company will cover the costs. Or: What costs are covered by invalidity insurance in the case of persistent long-term consequences (German)?
Check whether your insurance company covers the attorney fees.
If people affected by this issue have any additional questions, they can also contact a specialist attorney from the Covid Long-Term Consequences Association in their region by telephone (see website and the entry in the directory - In the keyword search please insert "Recht"). The attorney will be able to provide clarification as to whether seeking legal advice or representation is a sensible option in their particular case and what the associated costs would be.
Attorney Christian Haag (lic. iur.) is the President of the Verband Covid Langzeitfolgen (Covid Long-Term Consequences Association).
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