In Oscar-shortlisted documentary short Cashing Out, a little-known industry that saw dying LGBTQ+ people sell their life insurance policies is remembered
uring the summer of 2020, at the onset of the Covid pandemic, the documentary director Matt Nadel was back home in Boca Raton, Florida. He remembers one particular evening walk that he took with his father, Phil, as they weathered out those early months.
As they strode through the neighborhood, Nadel, now 26, said that the prospect of a vaccine was exciting, but the idea of pharmaceutical executives profiting off a devastating virus left him feeling uneasy. Phil grew concerned by the complex ethical predicament that his son laid out, and Nadel could quickly tell that his father was acting strangely.
“I think I have to tell you something,” Phil said mid-walk, before explaining that in the early days of the HIV/Aids epidemic he had invested in what are known as, “viatical settlements”. Phil would buy the life insurance policies of people dying of Aids, often with just weeks or months to live, for a portion of the plan’s value in cash. For many, it afforded them the ability to pay for food, rent and hospital bills as debilitating illness left them unable to work. For others, it was their chance to blow the funds on travel or experiences with the limited time they had left.
