60% of Employers Report AIDS Cases

WASHINGTON — A private survey of employee health plans shows that nearly 60% of employers who offer health insurance have had AIDS cases among workers or covered dependents but just 25% have formal AIDS policies.

An overwhelming majority of employers surveyed, 92%, said they had not modified their medical benefits plans because of AIDS. But 3% said they had altered the plan, and 5% planned to do so by the end of this year.

Of those employers who modified or planned to modify benefit plans, 56% said the changes included or would include an AIDS education campaign, 48% said they had or would limit coverage and 23% added or planned to add pre-employment testing for the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The survey, conducted by benefits consultant Foster Higgins last August and released this week, gathered information on medical benefits policy from more than 1,600 employers with work forces ranging from 700 people to more than 40,000 employees.