Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Commends Prudential Insurance for Making Life Insurance Available to HIV-Positive Applicants

HARRISBURG, Pa., Dec. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner Teresa Miller commended The Prudential Insurance Company of America on its announcement today that it is making life insurance available to certain HIV-positive applicants.

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"One of Governor Wolf's priorities is making insurance more accessible to Pennsylvanians," Commissioner Miller said. "Prudential's offering of life insurance to people living with HIV, who would have previously been denied coverage, is an important step in increasing accessibility to this key insurance product, which helps provide security to individuals and families."

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Prudential notified the Insurance Department in a letter of its intention to make term life insurance products from its existing portfolio available to certain individuals living with HIV. Prudential said significant advances in the fight against HIV/AIDS led to its decision.

The insurer has criteria which must be met for applicants living with HIV to qualify for life insurance. These include:

• Applicants must be between 30 and 60 years of age;
• Applicants must be permanent U.S. residents;
• An applicant's lowest ever recorded CD4 count must be greater than 200, and there must be no history of an AIDS-defining condition;
• It must be more than one year since HIV-positive diagnosis and, if being treated, more than six months since Antiretroviral Therapy (ART) was initiated;
• CD4 count and Viral Load must be recorded within six months from the time of the application;
• CD4 count was at least 350 when last measured;
• The applicant must be free of Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Tuberculosis and Non-Tuberculosis mycobacterial infection.

"My hope is that other insurers will follow suit and begin offering life insurance to individuals living with HIV, and that as further medical advances occur, the criteria for this coverage will be less restrictive," Commissioner Miller said. "This is a good day for increased insurance accessibility in Pennsylvania."

Any consumers with questions about life insurance, or any other type of insurance, can reach the Insurance Department at www.insurance.pa.gov, and click on "Consumers", or call 1-877-881-6388.

MEDIA CONTACT: Ron Ruman, Insurance Department, 717-787-3289

 

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SOURCE Pennsylvania Insurance Department