Virus gives insurance industry a headache

Press, 19 December 1985, Page 44

Virus gives insurance industry a headache

By

JOHN ROLL

of Associated Press Reno, Nevada If the A.I.D.S. epidemic continues its deadly progression unabated, the United States insurance industry could be paying billions in health and life benefits in two years, an industry official warned. “We are very concerned with the A.I.D.S. crisis, its devastating impact on A.I.D.S. patients and its implications to both the insur-ance-buying public and the industry itself,” said Russel luculano, legislative director for the American Coun-

cil of Life Insurance, whose members account for 95 per cent of the life insurance in force in the United States. Mr luculqno’s comments came in a report presented to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

“If present trends continue for another two years,” Mr luculano said, “the insurance industry wiU probably pay billions of dollars in medical expenses, disability and death benefits due to A.I.D.S. The total eventual amount of A.1.D.5.related claims will depend to a significant extent on how effectively future appli-

eants can be underwritten in the coming months and years.” He said effective underwriting requires that insurance companies have access to medical information about potential policy holders to better screen those with a higher risk of catching the disease. He urged the association to recognise the need for insurers to ask relevant application questions about, and, where appropriate, test for infection by the A.I.D.S. virus in the same way insurers inquire about and test for any other medical condition that affects mortality.

Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome cripples the body’s immune system, leaving the victim vulnerable to infections and other diseases, including cancers. By November 11, A.I.D.S. had affected 14,739 people in the United States and claimed 7545 lives since 1979, according to the National Centres for Disease Control in Atlanta. Mr luculano said without effective screening, present and potential policy holders would in effect be subsidising those with the disease through higher premiums. The impact of the disease on insurance . companies could be severe. The General Reassurance Company, for example, has already paid out 17 A.I.D.S. death claims, totalling SUS 3.6 .million ($6.37 million). The average claim for A.I.D.S. was $U5250,000 ($442,500), compared with an over-all average of SUSSO,uOO ($88,500), he said.