Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Associated PRess - December 11, 1985
"We are very concerned with the AIDS crisis, its devastating impact on AIDS patients and its implications to both the insurance-buying public and the industry itself," said the official, Russel P. Iuculano, legislative director for the American Council of Life Insurance. The council's members account for 95 percent of the life insurance in force in the United States.
Mr. Iuculano's comments came in a report presented to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
"If present trends continue for just another two years," Mr. Iuculano said, "the insurance industry will probably pay billions of dollars in medical expense, disability and death benefits due to AIDS. The total eventual amount of AIDS-related claims will depend to a significant extent on how effectively future applicants can be underwritten in the coming months and years."
He Says Information Is Needed
He said effective underwriting required insurance companies have access to medical information about potential policy-holders to screen better for those who are higher risks for the disease, acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
He urged the association to "recognize the need for insurers to ask relevant application questions about, and, where appropriate, test for infection by the AIDS virus in the same way insurers inquire about and test for any other medical condition that affects mortality."
AIDS cripples the body's immune system, leaving the victim vulnerable to infections and other diseases, including cancers. As of Nov. 11, AIDS had affected 14,739 people in the United States and claimed 7,545 lives since 1979, according to the national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta.
Mr. Iuculano said that, without effective screening, current and potential policy-holders would, in effect, be subsidizing those with the disease through higher premiums.
Two States Limited Their Use
California and Wisconsin approved measures in 1985 restricting insurers' use of blood tests for the antibody to the AIDS virus, which is an indication that the person has been exposed to the disease but not an indication that the person has AIDS.
Wisconsin modified its law last month to permit the AIDS antibody test to be used for insurance purposes after the state epidemiologist and insurance commissioner approved the tests as reliable.
While many have criticized the test as unreliable because it can produce false indications, Mr. Iuculano said the tests could be useful if properly handled.
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