Word: risk
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Government may have to step in where underwriters fear to tread. Of 325 insurance companies surveyed in 1985, 91% refused to issue policies to people who come up positive on the AIDS blood tests. (Many insurance companies are now requiring high-risk applicants to take these tests.) Without insurance, few Americans can handle the estimated $60,000 to $75,000 lifetime cost of treatment for AIDS, and most AIDS patients are not immediately eligible for Medicare or Medicaid. To fill the gap, Senator Ted Kennedy and others in Congress have proposed that all states establish a pool to provide insurance...
...right back up there on the priority list." An Atlanta executive concludes, "We are paying for our sins of the '60s, when one-night stands and sex without commitment used to be chic." More than anything, the public wants guidelines, new rules for unprecedented circumstances. The definition of "high-risk sexual activity" is chilling: according to health experts, it includes fellatio and vaginal and anal sex without a condom, and cunnilingus without a shield. Anyone engaging in sex with a new partner or with a long-term partner whose sexual history is unknown is at risk. No wonder health departments...
...disease are female. ) Women who are sexually active must face some hard choices; playing out Erica Jong's little scenario is not easy. Says Judith Cohen, a University of California at San Francisco epidemiologist who for the past two years has been surveying some 500 women at high risk of catching the virus: "The sheer political and power issues involved in telling someone that you think using a condom would be a good idea are real difficult and complicated. They raise questions like, 'Are you telling me that you already have the virus?' or 'What else have you been doing...
Active bisexuals are one route of viral transmission to the female population. In 1984 Free-Lance Writer Alexandra Wolf, 41, met a charming man in Hollywood. "We hit it off really well," she recalls, deciding at the time not to use any sexual precautions because "it's not a risk-free world, and I'm going to take the chance." After four encounters, he confessed he was a bisexual whose previous lover had died from an AIDS-related cancer. Ten months later, tests confirmed that Wolf had the live virus in her bloodstream...
...unflinchingly direct language of the Columbia guidelines leaves no room for confusion. On the subject of condoms, for example: "During withdrawal, hold the rim of the condom firmly against the penis so that the condom cannot slip off and no semen can escape." On fellatio: "The risk here is for the partner performing fellatio. It is common to have small cuts and sores in the mouth; even brushing your teeth can cause abrasions. This creates a route of entry for the virus in semen." On assessing personal risk: "Are you a man who has had sex with other men that...