Cal. Ins. Code § 799.02
The Equal Insurance HIV Act
Redline — January 1, 2011 → current.View current text →
Current — January 1, 2023
As of January 1, 2011
Notwithstanding subdivision (f) of Section 120980 of the Health and Safety Code or any other provisions of law, a life or disability income insurer may decline a life or disability income insurance application or enrollment request on the basis of a positive ELISA test followed by a positive Western Blot Assay performed by or at the direction of the insurer on the same specimen of the applicant.
This authorization applies only to policies, certificates, and applications for coverage (a) that are issued, delivered, or received on or after the effective date of the urgency statute amending this section enacted during the 1989 portion of the 1989–90 Regular Session and (b) the issuance or granting of which is otherwise contingent upon medical review for other diseases or medical conditions to be effective.
This article shall not be construed to prohibit an insurer from declining an application or enrollment request for insurance because the applicant has been diagnosed as having AIDS or ARC by a medical professional.
(a) A life or disability income insurer shall not decline an application or an enrollment request for coverage under a policy or certificate for life insurance or disability income insurance based solely on the results of a positive HIV test, regardless of when or at whose direction the test was performed.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, this article does not prevent or otherwise restrict a life or disability income insurer from refusing to insure an applicant that is HIV positive, limiting the amount, extent, or kind of coverage for an applicant that is HIV positive, or charging a different rate to an applicant that is HIV positive, if the refusal, limitation, or charge is based on sound actuarial principles and actual or reasonably anticipated experience.
(c) Transferring an applicant from a simplified, expedited, accelerated, or algorithmic underwriting process to a traditional medical underwriting process, based solely on the results of a positive HIV test, does not constitute a denial of the application or a violation of this section.
(d) This section applies if coverage is contingent upon medical review for other diseases or medical conditions.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.