In the early 1990s, the AIDS epidemic was in its second decade. Unable to work and with few months to live, many people with AIDS negotiated “viatical settlements” to live out their dying days with dignity.
These settlements were simple. People with AIDS sold their life insurance policies to investors and, in exchange, received a portion of their own death benefit upfront. Some used the money for survival, to pay rent or buy medications. Others opted for end-of-life luxury—embarking on lavish trips, buying vacation homes, and starting businesses.
When these patients died, investors received the full value of their policies, earning millions through short-term bets on queer death. Critics called it ghoulish profiteering. Advocates called it an imperfect solution in an even more imperfect system.
By the late 1990s, viatical settlements were a billion-dollar industry—until life-saving treatments came along. With patient deaths no longer guaranteed, investors panicked. They raged about their financial losses in the press and sent “Are You Dead Yet” letters to people who were fighting for their lives.
Unnerving, intimate, and occasionally uproarious, Cashing Out features the stories of three survivors whose lives were shaped by this industry—and investigates the filmmaker’s own unlikely connection to the business of "AIDS profiteering."