Insurer Calls for Life-Style Study as Sign of Gays

DALLAS —  An insurance company has suggested that underwriters try to screen possible AIDS victims by examining applicants’ life styles, prompting a gay activist to warn that unmarried heterosexual men may be unjustly denied coverage.

Lincoln National Life Insurance Co. of Fort Wayne, Ind., suggested in a memo to health and life insurance underwriters that they use marital status as an indicator of possible homosexuality, the Dallas Times Herald said Sunday. A Lincoln National spokesman confirmed the suggestions.

The memo said that age and residence also could be used to screen single and divorced men, referring to men between the ages of 20 and 49 who live in New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles and “probably” Houston, Miami and Newark.

In addition, the memo advised underwriters to flag applicants “if life style, habits or medical history suggest a person is in one of the AIDS risk groups,” and discussed the value of using an AIDS virus screening test on applicants.

AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, destroys the body’s ability to resist disease. It primarily afflicts male homosexuals, intravenous drug users and hemophiliacs.

Al Parsons, a Lincoln National spokesman, defended the suggestions, noting the high medical costs incurred to treat AIDS.

“Do you personally want to pay for people who have AIDS?” Parsons asked. “Should it be paid by taxes? We are not a public organization. We are a private insurer.”

Lincoln National said it has paid 56 AIDS claims this year.

Rob Bier, a spokesman for the American Council of Life Insurance and the Health Insurance Assn., said that Lincoln’s views are typical of the industry. The panel represents 95% of the nation’s life insurers.

Some consumer advocates said that the extra scrutiny for single men could result in workplace discrimination. Some employers might be reluctant to hire single men because of concerns about group insurance rates, they warned.

“The heterosexual single male is going to find himself lumped in there,” said Mike Richards, an insurance agent and board member of the Dallas Gay Alliance.