The State : State Spurns AIDS Issue

The state Department of Insurance’s senior counsel said the agency will issue no blanket rules to prevent insurance companies from discriminating against people prone to contracting acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Peter Groom said in a Dec. 20 letter that general regulations are too easily sidestepped by insurance companies and discrimination cases are best handled individually. The letter was made public by Assemblyman Art Agnos (D-San Francisco). “This is another compelling example of the state’s paralysis concerning AIDS,” an angry Agnos said. “If AIDS victims were Boy Scouts, not mainly homosexuals, every level of government would be jumping in to solve the problem.” Leonard Graff, legal director of the National Gay Rights Advocates, also objected, saying, “It is absolutely the duty of the Insurance Department to prohibit arbitrary discrimination and make sure the insurance industry does not ride roughshod over Californians.”