AIDS and Insurance:  the Experiences of A High-Risk Coho

Kass, Nancy

Abstract

The purpose of this project is to determine the relationship between access to health, life and disability insurance and being in a high risk group for AIDS or having an AIDS-related illness. Anecdotal reports suggest that people have been denied or lost insurance because of their high risk status or because they were symptomatic with AIDS or HIV infection. Although a few studies have examined either the practices of insurance companies regarding AIDS or the degree to which insurance regulations specific to AIDS exist in the various states, no studies have been performed that document the experiences of a high risk cohort or have the individual as the unit of analysis. The major research questions addressed by this cross-sectional, correlational study are both descriptive and analytic. They include the following: 1) What proportion of a sample of gay men has been questioned by insurance companies about previous HIV antibody testing or required to have the test taken as a criterion for eligibility? 2) Are HIV positive persons more likely to have been denied insurance than HIV negative persons? 3) Are the persons who have LOST health insurance coverage in the last year more likely to be HIV positive or have AIDS than those who have NOT lost coverage in the last year? 4) Are persons with AIDS more likely to be uninsured or to have public insurance than those who do not have AIDS? The data for this study will be gathered using a self-administered questionnaire, distributed once to participants in the Baltimore and Los Angeles branches of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, an eight-year prospective study funded by the National Institutes of Health examining the natural history of HIV infection in a cohort of gay and bisexual men. Information from the questionnaire will be correlated with participants' antibody status and symptom status in order to determine whether there is a relationship between certain insurance experiences and particular AIDS-related characteristics. Results from this study will be relevant for planners and policy makers. Planners use information about who among those at highest risk for AIDS has insurance coverage and under what circumstances the status of their coverage changes. In developing options for financing the care of the uninsured in general, policy makers use information that documents the extent of the problem and chronicles the circumstances under which those at risk became uninsured.