Harvard Offers AIDS Payment to Workers
BOSTON — Doctors, nurses and other employees of Harvard University and its hospitals will receive $100,000 in insurance benefits if they become infected with the AIDS virus on the job.
The program, apparently the first of its kind, will pay the money immediately to any of the 50,000 students and employees who prove job-related HIV infection, even if they are still healthy.
“This is designed to give someone the option of using financial assistance very early on, when there is still time to go around the world and enjoy oneself or pay off a mortgage or put money away for college,” said Dr. Clyde Evans, associate dean for clinical affairs at Harvard Medical School.
Job-acquired AIDS infections are rare, although they can happen from needle jabs and other exposure to potentially tainted blood. The university estimates that the program will pay an average of one claim a year.
Officials said workers would receive the money in addition to their other medical benefits.
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