Given that death rates of HIV positive individuals have
fallen during the past few years, should they be given access to life
insurance?
By: Ringo Bones
The good news is, the death rates of persons who are
diagnosed as HIV positive have fallen by as much as 40 percent around the world
since 2005. The bad news is that there are still some insurance providers who
deny them life insurance. Since the 1980s, patients who are diagnosed to be HIV
positive have been denied access to fully underwritten traditional life
insurance. But as death rates in HIV positive diagnosed persons continue to
fall due to the advent of affordable and increased access to anti-retroviral
medication, life insurance underwriting for HIV positive diagnosed persons are
now available.
Ross Deerman, chef executive of All Life provides mortgage
and life insurance policies to HIV positive diagnosed persons / AIDS survivors during
the past few years in South Africa. During the past five years, death rates of
HIV positive diagnosed persons on the African content have fallen by as much as
58-percent but the stigma still remains on traditional insurance underwriters
not granting life insurance policies to HIV / AIDS survivors. All Life’s program
/ business model of giving HIV Positive persons access to fully underwritten traditional
life insurance has already spread to other countries with local All Life
branches. Maybe insurance providers should also offer healthcare packages
designed for lower income HIV positive persons that allow them greater access
to anti-retroviral medication.
