San Francisco Chronicle - Monday, November 30, 1992
Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer

U.S. insurance giant AIG recently became the latest to test the waters, announcing a policy that would pay infected health care workers up to $500,000 without requiring proof that they contracted the virus through accidental needle sticks.

In addition to AIDS, infected health care workers face the prospect of financial ruin as the illness slowly disables them and runs up huge medical bills. This new breed of coverage could provide protection.

The idea is being cautiously applauded by unions and advocates for health care workers, but they stress that the more important task is to ensure that the potentially fatal workplace accidents do not occur in the first place.

"I'd be curious to see if hospitals with this insurance are doing what needs to be done to prevent these injuries," said John Mehring, AIDS coordinator for the western office of the Service Employees International Union.

Although AIDS insurance first appeared in the Northeast and Midwest, West Coast hospitals are becoming interested. The California Association of Hospitals and Health Systems in June announced its own AIDS insurance plan, which will be marketed through a Sacramento subsidiary, California Hospitals Affiliated Insurance Services.

Individual health care workers could purchase coverage worth up to five times their annual salary provided they pass an initial blood test showing they do not carry the HIV virus that causes AIDS. In April, BCS Financial, a Chicago insurance company owned by Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, issued an AIDS policy for individual health care workers costing $75 a year, and a group policy for hospitals costing $19 a year per employee. "It's a very reasonably priced product," said insurance broker Bob Josephs. "We're satisfied with the results so far."

No one has collected on the new policies, but several covered employees who reported needle sticks are awaiting tests results to see if they have become infected.

Harvard University last month announced its own plan to provide its 50,000 health-care workers with a program that would pay $100,000 if they became infected with the human immunodeficiency virus while on the job.

To qualify for the BCS or Harvard benefit, a worker must test negative within five days of a reported needlestick -- well before a new infection would show up on the test. If he or she then tests positive six months later, time enough for the virus to have taken hold, the payment is issued.

AIG's plan, sold through its Boston subsidiary Lexington Insurance Co., dispenses with the testing requirement, although it still excludes coverage for someone with a previous HIV diagnosis in their medical records. The insurer could end up paying the benefit to a worker infected through sexual contact or drug abuse, or to previously infected workers who did not know their HIV status or concealed it from their doctors.

Lexington vice president Jerry Casper said the policy will be offered throughout the country, even in cities hard hit by AIDS. Hospitals in cities such as San Francisco will have to pay a higher premium, however, and he declined to say how the insurance would be priced.

Ben Schatz, executive director of the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights in San Francisco, a group representing gay and lesbian doctors, said that if the Lexington policy does what Casper says, it would be a breakthrough.

"Part of me says this sounds terrific, but another part says 'too good to be true,' " Schatz said. "I don't see how a private insurer can make a profit unless it charges extremely high rates."

Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 1992. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.

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