Hep C and HIV patients wary of State insurance scheme

HEPATITIS C and HIV patients infected by contaminated blood products have given a guarded welcome to proposals for a State scheme to provide them with insurance and mortgage protection when commercial companies turn them down.

The Department of Health last night confirmed that the proposals are to be brought before the Cabinet by Tánaiste Mary Harney for approval “early in the new year” although this is understood to mean before the end of this month.

The package is believed to include provisions for travel insurance, life cover and mortgages, all of which have been regularly refused to carriers of the Hep C and HIV viruses because they are considered high risk customers.

Under the scheme, people infected through the various blood product contamination scandals would pay insurers the standard rate for life assurance and other insurance policies while the Department of Health would cover that part of the premium added on because of the policyholder’s medical condition.

The department would also act as underwriter for people who are flatly refused cover by private firms. A spokesman declined to go into details of the measures proposed but an unconfirmed estimate puts the cost of the scheme at €1.5 million.

The scheme has been under discussion by the Department of Health and organisations representing infected people for over six years and it is understood the two sides were close to agreement when Micheál Martin was shifted from the health portfolio last September.

Maura Long, chairperson of Transfusion Positive, which represents 250 women with Hepatitis C and their families, said last night she welcomed the confirmation that a package was ready to go before Cabinet.

But she added that after years of difficult and protracted negotiations, she would prefer to wait for the response of Cabinet and ensure that all the proposals were passed without watering down before declaring the mission accomplished.

Around 1,500 women were infected with hepatitis C after being administered contaminated Anti-D while pregnant in the 1970s and 1980s, while over 100 haemophiliacs were infected with HIV and/or hepatitis C through blood clotting products or blood transfusions, mainly in the mid to late 1980s.