Supplement to Prospectus Dated May 1, 1998
                       Supplement dated November 16, 1998

This Supplement should be retained with the current Prospectus for your variable
annuity  contract  issued  by  American   Skandia  Life  Assurance   Corporation
("American  Skandia").  If you do not have a current prospectus,  please contact
American Skandia at 1-800-SKANDIA.

                   A. REDUCTION OF THE MINIMUM INITIAL PAYMENT

Application and Initial Payment
The section of the  Prospectus  entitled  "Application  and Initial  Payment" is
amended as follows:

The minimum  initial  Purchase  Payment we accept is  decreased  from $25,000 to
$15,000.

Skandia's Systematic Investment Plan ("bank drafting")
The section of the Prospectus  entitled  "Skandia's  Systematic  Investment Plan
("bank drafting") is amended as follows:

You may make Purchase Payments to your Annuity using bank drafting, but only for
allocations to variable investment options.  However,  you must pay at least one
prior  Purchase  Payment by check or wire  transfer.  We will  accept an initial
Purchase Payment lower than our standard minimum Purchase Payment requirement of
$15,000 if you also furnish bank drafting instructions that provide amounts that
will meet a $15,000 minimum  Purchase  Payment  requirement to be paid within 12
months.  We reserve the right to suspend or cancel bank  drafting  privileges if
sufficient funds are not available from the applicable financial  institution on
any date that a transaction is scheduled to occur.

           B. SALE OF CONTRACTS TO RESIDENTS OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK

Some of the  provisions of the Annuity are  different  for contracts  offered to
residents of the State of New York. These provisions are as follows:

DEFINITIONS

MVA:  For New York  contracts,  you may  transfer or withdraw all or part of the
Account Value from a Fixed  Allocation  during the 30 days prior to the Maturity
Date of such Fixed Allocation without application of a market value adjustment.

INVESTMENT OPTIONS

Fixed  Investment  Options:  The State of New York  does not  allow a  Guarantee
Period to exceed ten years in  duration.  For New York  contracts,  the interest
rate we credit to the Fixed Allocation is subject to a minimum of 3%.

CHARGES ASSESSED OR ASSESSABLE AGAINST THE ANNUITY

Tax  Charges:  For New York  contracts  a charge for taxes may also be  assessed
against the Sub-accounts and/or the Fixed Allocations.

PURCHASING ANNUITIES

Ownership,  Annuitant and Beneficiary Designations:  For contracts issued in the
State of New York, the designation of contingent Owner is not allowed.

Right to Return the Annuity:  For New York contracts the  "free-look"  period is
within 21 days of receipt of the Annuity and within 10 days of receipt for IRAs.
The amount to be refunded  for New York  contracts  is the Account  Value in the
Sub-accounts  plus the Interim Value of the Fixed  Allocations  and for IRAs the
amount to be refunded is the greater of Premium or Account Value.

ACCOUNT VALUE AND SURRENDER VALUE

Account Value of the Fixed  Allocations:  For  annuities  issued in New York, we
apply certain  formulas to determine "I" and "J" when we do not offer  Guarantee
Periods with a duration  equal to the remaining  period.  These  formulas are as
follows:

(a)               If we offer Guarantee  Periods to your class of Annuities with
                  durations  that are both shorter and longer than the remaining
                  period, we interpolate a rate for "J" between our then current
                  interest  rates for  Guarantee  Periods with the next shortest
                  and  next  longest  durations  then  available  for new  Fixed
                  Allocations for your class of Annuities.

(b)               If we no  longer  offer  Guarantee  Periods  to your  class of
                  Annuities with durations that are both longer and shorter than
                  the  remaining  period,  we  determine  rates for "J" and, for
                  purposes  of  determining  the MVA only,  for "I" based on the
                  Moody's   Corporate  Bond  Yield  Average  -  Monthly  average
                  Corporates (the  "Average"),  as published by Moody's Investor
                  Services, Inc., its successor, or an equivalent service should
                  such  Average  no  longer  be   published   by  Moody's.   For
                  determining  I,  we  will  use  the  Average  published  on or
                  immediately  prior to the  start of the  applicable  Guarantee
                  Period.

RIGHTS, BENEFITS AND SERVICES

Changing  Revocable  Designations:  Unless you indicated that a prior choice was
irrevocable or your Annuity has been endorsed to limit certain changes,  you may
request to change Owner,  Annuitant and  Beneficiary  designations  by sending a
request In Writing.  Where  allowed by law,  such changes will be subject to our
acceptance.  For New York  contracts,  some of the  changes  we will not  accept
include,  but are not limited to: (a) a new Owner subsequent to the death of the
Owner or the first of any joint Owners to die, except where a spouse-Beneficiary
has  become the Owner as a result of an  Owner's  death and (b) a new  Annuitant
prior to the Annuity Date if the Annuity is owned by an entity.

Allocation  Rules:  For New York  contracts  the  minimum  amount  allowed in an
investment option is $500.

The  following  services  which  we may  offer  are not  available  for New York
contracts: (1) authorization of an independent third party to transact transfers
on your behalf and (2) market timing program.

Transfers:  Your transfer request must be In Writing. For New York contracts,  a
specific  authorization  form MUST be completed  which  authorizes  us to accept
transfers via phone or through means such as electronic mail.

Renewals:  For New York  contracts we will notify you of the  Guarantee  Periods
available as of the date of such  notice,  at least 45 days and not more than 60
days prior to the Maturity  Date.  No MVA applies to any amounts  allocated to a
particular  Fixed Allocation if you withdraw all or part of the Account Value in
such Fixed Allocation within 30 days of maturity. If you are age 55 or older you
may  invest  in a Fixed  Allocation  with a  Guarantee  Period of less than five
years.

Minimum Distributions: For New York contracts the Minimum Distribution provision
is only  available for annuities  issued under Section 403(b) of the IRS Code or
for IRA's where Minimum  Distributions are required.  Minimum  Distributions are
not available for any other contracts.

Death Benefit:  For New York contracts  paragraphs (2) and (3)(b) are amended as
follows:  If that person's  death occurs after the earlier of the decedent's age
90 or the tenth  Annuity  Year,  the death  benefit is your Account Value in the
Sub-accounts plus the Interim Value of any Fixed Allocation.

Annuity  Payments:  The Annuity Date must be the first or the fifteenth day of a
calendar month. However, for New York contracts,  if the contract's  accumulated
value, at the time of  annuitization,  is less than $2,000,  or would provide an
income,  the  initial  amount  of which is less than $20 per  month,  in lieu of
commencing the annuity payments,  we reserve the right to cancel the annuity and
pay you the total of the Account Value in any Sub-account plus the Interim Value
of any Fixed Allocation.

For New York  contracts  the  Annuity  Date may not  exceed the first day of the
calendar month following the Annuitant's 90th birthday.

OTHER MATTERS

Deferral of  Transactions:  For New York contracts we may defer any distribution
or transfer  from a Fixed  Allocation  or an annuity  payout for a period not to
exceed  6  months.  If we  defer a  distribution  or  transfer  from  any  Fixed
Allocation or any fixed  annuity  payout for more than ten days, we pay interest
using our then current  crediting rate for this purpose,  which is not less than
3% per year on the amount deferred.

Modification:  In  addition  to  obtaining  prior  approval  from the  insurance
department of our state of domicile before making such a substitution,  deletion
or  addition,  we will also obtain prior  approval  from the  Superintendent  of
Insurance for New York.

Misstatement  of Age or Sex: For New York contracts the following  provision (c)
is added:  
(c) as to any annuity  payments,  we shall credit or charge  interest
using our then current  crediting  rate for this  purpose,  which is not greater
than 6%  interest  per year,  calculated  from the date of any  underpayment  or
overpayment to the date actual payment is made.


ASL (11/98)