The AID Law project uses the law to protect the rights of people with HIV
An American insurance company was ordered by the court last year to pay Jerome Mitchell $10 million for “wrongly revoking his heath insurance policy”.
And this week Reuters revealed that: “Previously undisclosed records from Mitchell’s case reveal that Fortis had a company policy of targeting policyholders with HIV”.
“Mitchell not only obtained a measure of justice for himself; he also helped expose wrongdoing on the part of Fortis (now known as Assurant Health) that could have repercussions for the entire health insurance industry,” the Reuters story said.
“A computer program and algorithm targeted every policyholder recently diagnosed with HIV for an automatic fraud investigation, as the company searched for any pretext to revoke their policy.
“As was the case with Mitchell, their insurance policies often were canceled on erroneous information, the flimsiest of evidence, or for no good reason at all, according to the court documents and interviews with state and federal investigators.”
Reuters reported: “Insurance companies have long engaged in the practice of ‘rescission’, whereby they investigate policyholders shortly after they’ve been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses.
“But government regulators and investigators who have overseen the actions of Assurant and other health insurance companies say it is unprecedented for a company to single out people with HIV.
“In his previously undisclosed court ruling, the judge in the Mitchell case also criticized what he said were the company’s efforts to cover its tracks.”
It seems that Assurant Health has set a record new low with its illegal discrimination against people with HIV.
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