Guide to Health Insurance for HIV Positive People
People diagnosed with HIV or the AIDS virus frequently faces a rigorous process when getting a health insurance policy. Because of intervening administrations, you will possibly be written the health insurance coverage, but the stigma doesn’t close on that point. Holding on to and using the health insurance policy can prove another major undertaking with many potential problems.
It is not uncommon for insurance carriers to follow unlawful practices such as discrimination towards persons with HIV. Here are some examples of things to look out for.
Underwriting is a crucial component of all insurance carriers. It is used to determine the potential risk involved in insuring an insurance applicant. The underwriter uses the information obtained to determine if the applicant meets the companies criteria for extending the applicant a formal insurance policy. The agent who writes the policy will ask you a series of health questions approved by the State Department of Insurance. California residents are protected from an insurance company from testing blood for the presence of antibodies, which has been determined as a likely cause of AIDS.
It is also illegal for any company to assess risk on the basis of sexual orientation. Many a times, insurance companies violate this law by denying coverage to single males, implying on notions of them being gay or belonging to a certain area, actively known for gay community.
While offering health insurance coverage, the policies are often designed to exclude any illness or injuries which have been manifested before the policies effective date. This means that if the policy holder has suffered from any illness before the date of inception of policy, than he / she cannot claim the expense of treating that illness.
In case of persons infected with HIV, often the symptoms are easy to detect by the insurer being that they know what to look for and review these medical aspects on daily basis. If the insurance company suspects that a person may be HIV positive, the policy is written in such a manner to avoid claims in future if the person becomes HIV positive in the future.
Insurance companies have also used the application to limit future liabilities. When policy holders are found to be HIV positive, companies have declined claims citing that policy holders provided inaccurate or incomplete medical history on the application. Courts have stated in many states that insurance companies can only deny these claims if they can prove that the applicant purposely withheld information.
Hubert Miles is a blogger for many websites and the webmaster of Medical Articles and Health Articles websites.
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