Mutual Of Omaha Sued By GLAD

Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) has filed a claim with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) charging that Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company discriminated when it denied a gay man long term care insurance because he is taking Truvada. Truvada is a form of PrEP or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, a medication prescribed to HIV-negative people to prevent the transmission of HIV. This is the first lawsuit in the country challenging discrimination against a person on PrEP. The plaintiff, identified as John Doe in the complaint stated, “I was being responsible & doing the right thing. Insurance companies should be begging everyone to take Truvada – not discouraging them. As someone who lived through the worst of the epidemic & saw dozens of my friends die, I want to do everything I can to stop it.” Bennett Klein, Senior Attorney & AIDS Law Project Director at GLAD added, “Mutual of Omaha’s denial is nonsensical. If our client were not taking Truvada, not protecting his health & the health of others, he would have received the insurance. We should be well beyond the days when insurers make decisions based on fear and stereotypes about HIV. The assumption is that gay male sexuality is inherently risky and unhealthy & that’s just wrong.” Truvada, approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2004 as a treatment for HIV & in 2012 as a method of preventing HIV infection, is considered by public health experts to be a major medical breakthrough in HIV prevention, with the potential to end the epidemic.
For More Info: glad.org
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