Hope for the best, insure for the worst. Here are lessons, hard-won from the experience of my HIV clients, relevant to us all.

Lesson # 1: Get insurance. HIV teaches that most serious illnesses can strike at any age. When hit with new diseases like HIV or cancer we need more, not less money. Only insurance can rapidly pay bills, ongoing living expenses and the extraordinary expenses illness causes. And you can't insure the barn when you see the smoke curling.

Get your insurance in place before you test for HIV or are suddenly hit with cancer. Test anonymously so that you have all your facts before you take action; do not do that first test through your doctor.

Lesson # 2: Get private insurance. Society's safety nets are full of holes. Medicaid can be bad for your health. Do you think you'll get great care from a doctor who's getting $12 when that doctor could get $84 from private insurance? If you presented yourself at a hospital with pneumonia type complaints, with Medicaid paying $64 or an insurer paying $640, which do you think you would get: a few pills for pneumonia or the expensive bronchoscopy procedure? A recent GMHC study shows that 3/4 of their long-term male AIDS survivors all have private insurance. That says it all.

Lesson # 3: Get top medical insurance. With serious illness easily totalling $250,000 to $1,000,000, medical insurance becomes our greatest asset, rivaling or exceeding real estate or investments in value. With the new laws, you can change from one private plan to another freely with no pre-existing condition waiting periods. Blue Cross officially has declared that HIV itself does not constitute a pre-existing condition. With HIV sign up for ADAP, one of the few programs you can have while earning up to $44,000 that will fill gaps in drug, doctor, and home care coverage.

Lesson # 4: Get disability insurance. A typical AIDS patient has over $10,000 a year of nonreimbursed medical expenses plus medical travel, psychotherapy, better food, insurance premiums, housing improvements, etc.

Over half of all men are disabled for more than three months in their lifetimes. Do you want to spend illness time fighting paper battles, standing in line for public entitlements? Choose employment that offers long-term disability. Get private coverage: if you pay the premium it's portable--and the benefits are tax free income. Beware of agents who don't take application questions seriously; some companies screen people when they file a claim, not when they apply.

With HIV, a t-cell count of 200 doesn't automatically qualify you for social security disability income. Yet it is possible where merited to claim disability on other grounds where t-cell counts are higher.

Lesson # 5: Get life insurance--carefully. But know that denial, withdrawal of applications and multiple applications may all recorded at the Medical Information Bureau. If in average health, apply for individual coverage; if not, you may qualify for simplified or guaranteed issue coverage.

Life insurance is now an asset that can be cashed in with HIV or terminal cancer. But the companies advertising are usually brokers who steer you to companies who pay them high commissions. It may be better to get pay someone competent to help & to seek firms who have their own funds.

Lesson # 6: Get insurance through work. With serious illness, put benefits before salary. Remember, there are usually no questionnaires on insurance gained through employment. And premiums are often lower through group rating. Be wary of launching an entrepreneurial venture without top medical, disability and life insurance. But if your venture is mid-sized many benefits may be possible without medical screening.

Lesson # 7: Recognize & fill knowledge gaps. Start by simply reading your benefit booklets & insurance policies. Ask questions of your agent. Pick up a good overall money book. Think through what your options might be when calamity struck; remember: the question is when, not if. Beware of only seeking "free" information from salespeople who might steer you to the products that pay them the highest commissions.

If you've got HIV, write for a free copy of Positively Aware's "Banking On Your Health," Body Positive's "Winning The Disability Benefits Game," or "Cashing In Life Insurance Can Be Rewarding - And Risky" to Per Larson; Financial Advice and Advocacy; PO Box 20484; New York, New York 10021-0054.