Sun Life offering life insurance to HIV-positive Canadians

The corporate logo of Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF) is shown. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO

TORONTO -- Sun Life Financial Inc. (TSX:SLF) is now selling life insurance to people living with HIV, as well as overhauling its life insurance application process.

In in order to make it easier, the insurer says it will no longer routinely require saliva, urine or blood samples from those applying for critical illness or life insurance.

"Using tools we have these days around big data and predictive analytics, we've been able to asses our own experience and believe that we're at a place today where the information that we're gleaning from the applications themselves are sufficient for the vast majority of the policies that we're issuing," Sun Life Financial Canada president Kevin Dougherty said.

The company said in a statement that over three quarters of its critical illness insurance applicants and half of life insurance clients will benefit from the changes.

Sun Life's decision to offer more than $3 million in life insurance to people with HIV follows a similar move by Manulife Financial Corp. earlier this year.

Back in April, Manulife announced plans to offer life insurance of up to $2 million to people who are HIV-positive.

Manulife said at the time that it was the first Canadian company to offer such coverage.

Dougherty said Sun Life decided to start providing coverage to people with HIV because the medical prognosis for the condition has improved.

"At one point it was an incurable condition with very, very difficult outcomes," Dougherty said.

Now, thanks to medical advancements, people with HIV can live well into their 70s, as long as they're adhering to their prescribed treatment plans, Dougherty said.

"This is a reflection of the progress that's been made there," Dougherty said.