AEGiS-APPJ: DC. Act 6-170: The Five-Year Ban on Risk-Based Pricing for AIDS

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1987. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

DC. Act 6-170: The Five-Year Ban on Risk-Based Pricing for AIDS

AIDS & Public Policy Journal 2, no. 1 (Winter 1987): 15-18.
Russell P. Iuculano

The development of criteria for fair underwriting of life and health insurance for persons medically at high risk for AIDS has presented daunting challenges to both the insurance industry and state legislators and regulators. In the District of Columbia, the industry was faced with the most sweeping legislation of its kind in the country. The "prohibition of Discrimination in the Provision of Insurance Act of 1986" took effect August 7, 1986, after unanimous passage by the D.C. City Council on May 27 and signature by Mayor Marion Barry on June 6. The act prohibits the use of all AIDS-related tests for a five-year period, including tests for the AIDS antibody, tests to measure the condition of the immune system (T-cell tests), and tests to identify the existence of the AIDS virus itself. Therefore, under the automatic five-year ban, tests that could identify with 100 percent certainty individuals that will contract AIDS would be absolutely prohibited.
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