Does life insurance cover HIV and AIDS?

Submitted by carol on Mon, 06/22/2009 - 05:31
Life insurance policies are intrinsically different from other policies. Insurance companies are completely aware that death in inevitable and will occur at some point or the other. These companies design their policies with full knowledge of the fact that the money will finally go to the insured’s beneficiary at some point of time unknown to everyone. Individuals who are HIV positive don’t necessarily have AIDS. Many individuals who are HIV positive lead a normal healthy life for many years. However, life insurance and HIV were two terms that did not go together. Individuals who were HIV positive could not even expect to get life insurance coverage. Today it is a known fact that HIV can lead to AIDS but doesn’t always do so. People had their own notions about HIV. Although many of the notions have been cleared, a lot of it still remains. A peep into the past Earlier there were misleading information about the disease and that created a lot of panic. This in turn led to most insurance company’s refusing to cover HIV positive individuals. Since treatment was not as advanced, the mortality rate from HIV was also quite high then. Slowly the mortality rate decreased with improved medication. This change in the longevity of HIV patients revived the faith in the insurance companies. They again began to invest on them. Life insurance for HIV positive There are not many companies that offer life insurance for HIV positive patients. However, few companies that do provide insurance for them have certain restrictions. These include:
  • The patient must be between the age of 21 and 49.
  • Patient must be able to work
  • The patient must have very limited amount of virus
  • Patient must maintain a very healthy lifestyle
  • Patient must have contracted the virus sexual contact or from accidental contact with an infected needle stick
  • Patient must not have full blown AIDS
Benefits of life insurance Life insurance inherently provides a financial security in the event of death of the insured. Although only one or two companies provide life insurance for HIP positive individuals, anyone diagnosed with HIV should opt for life insurance immediately, if they haven’t given life insurance a thought. Individuals may consult their case workers to identify their life insurance options. With medication becoming more effective with each passing day, more insurance companies are coming forth with life insurance plans for HIV positive patients. If taken proper care a patient with AIDS can survive many years. Medicine is quite advanced and treatment has become more accessible. Hence, insurance companies are willing to take more risks with HIV patients.
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