New York State Will Investigate Claims That Insurance Companies Denied Healthy Gay Men Coverage

According to reports, some insurance companies appear to be denying insurance policies to gay men who admit to taking medication that protects them from HIV infection.

Wait - what? These are healthy guys who are taking preventative steps to avoid HIV infection and insurance companies are holding it against them?

Not only is that not cool, it's also probably illegal.

From The New York Times:

Such denials would amount to illegal discrimination based on sexual orientation, and the companies doing so could be penalized, said Maria T. Vullo, the state’s superintendent of financial services.

The investigation was triggered by an article published Tuesday by The New York Times, she said.

The Times reported that various insurers around the country had denied policies to gay men after learning they took Truvada, a cocktail of two anti-AIDS drugs, to avoid catching H.I.V. through sex. To get insurance, some men even stopped taking the protective drugs.

The practice — known as “pre-exposure prophylaxis,” or PrEP — is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies have shown that people who take the drug every day have nearly a zero chance of becoming infected, even if they are in a long relationship with an H.I.V.-infected person or have sex with many strangers without condoms.

The investigation was prompted by another story in the NY Times about a doctor who couldn't get disability insurance because he admitted to taking PrEP.