“Cashing Out” Reveals How Insurance Companies Made A Profit From The AIDS Crisis
Matt Nadel’s Oscar-qualified documentary sheds light on overlooked stories of survival during the AIDS crisis, serving as a timely reminder of how fragile progress remains and why queer voices are essential in preserving our history today.
Cashing Out, a 40-minute documentary from GLAAD Award-nominated filmmaker Matt Nadel, premieres today on The New Yorker’s platforms. The film uncovers a hidden story from the height of the AIDS crisis, when thousands of queer people sold their life insurance policies to investors for quick cash.
At 26, Nadel represents a new generation of queer filmmakers reclaiming history that has been overlooked. With candour and urgency, he draws a line from the viatical settlements of the 1980s and 1990s to today’s questions about equity, access and dignity, and he does it through the prism of an unlikely personal connection to the industry.
From an executive producing team that includes Matt Bomer, Angeria Paris VanMicheals and Oscar-nominated filmmaker Julie Cohen, the film revisits the morally complex world of “AIDS profiteering”, and how it enabled both survival and exploitation for people living with AIDS at a time when institutions failed them.
The film also marks a milestone partnership with the National AIDS Memorial, which has launched an intergenerational storytelling campaign called “The Quilt Can Be A Comforter”. The Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA) has joined the campaign as the presenting sponsor.
“The industry highlighted in Cashing Out has evolved into the modern-day life settlement industry, which provides seniors or those with terminal illnesses, who hold life insurance policies, with an option to cash in their policies for immediate benefits rather than allowing them to lapse. The National AIDS Memorial is committed to sharing the story of the AIDS crisis and the lessons that can be learned from it. As a man who lived through the darkest days of the AIDS crisis, I remember firsthand the struggle many faced and how the viatical process presented both challenges and opportunities,” says John Cunningham, executive director of the National AIDS Memorial
“Cashing Out shines a light on a profoundly human chapter in the life settlement industry, when people with AIDS faced impossible choices. For LISA, supporting this film was essential, not only to honour the origins of our industry, but to ensure those stories are told with compassion and dignity. Our partnership with the National AIDS Memorial reflects our commitment to transparency and education, and to ensuring life settlements remain a safe, well-regulated option that helps more people achieve their financial goals,” says Bryan Nicholson, executive director, Life Insurance Settlement Association (LISA).
“I had never heard about this industry until I discovered a few years ago that I had an unnerving personal connection to it. Making this film allowed me not only to reckon with something personal, but also to connect AIDS history to timely questions around care, equity, and the cost of dignity in this country. Right now, those questions could not be more relevant,” says Matt Nadel, director of Cashing Out
The film premiered free on September 10, 2025; view at www.cashingoutmovie.com
