Blue Cross Denies Liver Transplant

Horizon Blue Cross'Blue Shield health care plan has denied a lifesaving liver transplant to an HIV-positive Baltimore man, saying the surgery is considered experimental. The HIV Project at Lambda Legal, a civil rights organization, is urging the company to reverse its decision, pointing out that numerous studies show that HIV patients doing well on antiretroviral therapy respond similarly to transplant surgeries as HIV-negative adults. Lambda has successfully persuaded several other insurers to stop denying transplant surgery coverage to their HIV-positive members.