ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 16, 1997 TAG: 9704160044
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHICAGO
It's expensive and limited, but the policy reflects a new attitude toward AIDS.
Acknowledging extraordinary medical advances against AIDS, a company has become the first in the nation to offer life insurance to people infected with HIV.
Guarantee Trust Life Insurance, which specializes in insuring high-risk individuals, is test-marketing the coverage.
``From a life insurance risk perspective, we believe many otherwise healthy HIV-positive individuals are more appropriately viewed as having a treatable chronic illness rather than a terminal disease,'' said Richard Holson, president of the company.
Those who qualify must be Illinois residents under 49 and not have full-blown AIDS.
A fairly healthy 30-year-old man who doesn't smoke would pay about $55 a month for a $50,000 universal life policy, said a Guarantee Trust senior vice president. If that same person were HIV positive, the policy would cost about $300 a month, he said.
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LENGTH: Short : 33 linesby CNB