Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - The Voice of the West, 901 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA 94119 - Wednesday, April 16, 1997 - Page A1
Laura Castaneda, Chronicle Staff Writer
The announcement yesterday by Guarantee Trust Life Insurance Co. of Glenview, Ill., is significant because it recognizes the success of protease inhibitors in extending the lives of many AIDS patients.
"It's another step forward in acknowledging the power of new treatment options," said Timothy Rodrigues, a spokesman for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.
"It's not for everybody, but it's a start in the right direction," said Betsy Johnsen, a benefits attorney for the AIDS Legal Referral Panel in San Francisco.
However, even Guarantee Trust said the cost of this new insurance may be too high for most people.
"We're excited about being able to offer this product, but there may not be a market for it," said Monty Edson, Guarantee Trust's senior vice president for marketing.
If the 90-day trial is successful, Guarantee Trust plans to roll out the plans nationally.
Many insurance specialists and AIDS activists believe the move by Guarantee Trust will encourage other insurers to begin offering life insurance products to people with HIV.
"We expect other insurance companies will be looking closely at this to see if they can design their own products," said Ken Vest, a spokesman for the Washington D.C.-based American Council of Life Insurance.
Guarantee Trust is offering whole life coverage ranging from $25,000 to $250,000 to people who are under 49 years of age and do not have full-blown AIDS. Other requirements for coverage include HIV treatment for at least nine months, T-cell counts no lower than 400, and an average viral load that has not exceeded 5,000 over the past year.
Edson said the company wants applicants to be working and insured so that they can afford to pay for their HIV treatments.
People who were infected with HIV from sharing needles during intravenous drug use are not eligible for the insurance, he said.
The price for the Guarantee Trust policies for people with HIV will be substantially higher than its impaired risk policies, said Edson.
With the standard impaired risk product, a 30-year-old man who doesn't smoke would pay between $55 and $110 a month for a $50,000 whole life policy. If that same person were HIV positive, the policy would cost about $300 a month.
With a whole life insurance policy, the face amount is constant and will be paid if the insured person dies at any time while the policy is in effect. Premium payments are fixed and remain the same from the effective date to maturity date.
Many insurance companies across the country offer so-called impaired risk life insurance for people who had organ transplants, cancer, heart problems or suffer from diabetes.
The only plans available to people with HIV are "guaranteed issue insurance" plans that do not ask about a person's health status, or group insurance plans. But guaranteed issue insurance is expensive, usually provides around $25,000 of coverage, and is typically limited to people age 50 or older. Edson said the Guarantee Trust plans have no restrictions on viatical settlements, where the terminally ill sell their policies for a fraction of their value.
Guarantee Trust, a 60-year-old company with more than 1 million customers and $175 million in assets, specializes in insuring impaired individuals.
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