Massachusetts seeks to reverse decisions for denied life insurance by naloxone carriers

Denied Life Insurance - Life Insurance Form

The state has issued guidelines following a nurse’s rejection because she is trying to be a good Samaritan. Massachusetts has issued new guidelines regarding naloxone carriers after a nurse was denied life insurance. The state is hoping that life insurance and disability insurance companies will stop denying coverage to good Samaritans who are carrying the overdose-reversing drug in order to help those in need of it. The guidelines were issued this month in response to the story of a nurse who couldn’t get a policy. The Boston nurse carries the…

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Massachusetts Governor Baker signs Anti-gender discrimination bill

Anti-Gender discrimination law - male & female

House Bill 842 prevents insurance companies from using gender to charge higher premiums. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed a new anti-gender discrimination bill. House Bill 842 makes it illegal for insurance companies to increase premiums based on whether an applicant is a man or woman. Traditionally, women pay more for the same disability insurance protection in Massachusetts. Governor Baker was joined by several other legislature members. This included HB 842’s main sponsor, State Representative Ruth Balser as well as house speaker Robert DeLeo. For more than a decade, Balser has…

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Mutual of Omaha lawsuit pushes insurer to cover patients taking Truvada

Mutual of Omaha - lawsuit

New applicants taking the HIV prevention medication had previously been denied policies. Mutual of Omaha settled discrimination allegations filed by the Massachusetts attorney general’s office. The insurance company has agreed to stop denying applicants who use HIV prevention medications such as Truvada. At the same time, the insurance company settled a second lawsuit in the state regarding a similar situation. In the second lawsuit, Mutual of Omaha settled with an unidentified man. The insurance company turned down the man’s long term care insurance application when he acknowledged that he took…

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Men taking Truvada often rejected for disability insurance policy

Disability insurance policy - Men rejected for HIV prevention drug

Instances men turned down for coverage based on HIV prevention use are increasingly common. Americans taking the prescription drug Truvada are finding it harder to purchase a disability insurance policy. Truvada is an HIV prevention drug meant to help protect a user from becoming infected. The Affordable Care Act bans health insurance companies from discriminating based on sexual orientation. That said, the states themselves each have their own regulations for what is allowed to determine eligibility for certain specific types of coverage such as life, long-term care, or a disability…

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Insurance denial case involving gay men in New York to be investigated by state

HIV insurance denial discrimination

State financial regulators will be looking into reports of discrimination against homosexual men. New York financial regulators are looking into recent reports of insurance denial involving gay men. The story originated in the New York Times and stated that gay men were being denied long-term care, disability and life insurance because of a preventative medication they were taking. The men were taking a medication to help boost their protection against H.I.V. when they applied for coverage. If the insurance denial allegations are true, it may mean that the insurers’ practices…

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