AIDS: MetLife's experience.

The national health burden created by AIDS/HIV disease has had a significant impact on the insurance industry. In an analysis of the MetLife health and life insurance claims from 1986 through 1989, it was found that a total of $323,900,000 has been paid for AIDS/HIV disease. This figure and related information from those years were based on the Company's underwriting and claims files, with personal and group operations reported separately. Personal life insurance claims rose from 344 in 1986 to 874 in 1989 with the dollar amounts increasing from $3.2 million to $8.9 million. In 1989 there were 689 group life claims with a face amount of $31.5 million and 6,450 people who received group medical claim payments for a total of $111.2 million. In 1989 AIDS claims comprised 1.61 percent of MetLife claims--up from 0.4 percent in 1986.