The uncertain future of HIV treatment after the Affordable Care Act
The uncertain future of HIV treatment after the Affordable Care Act
- Before passage of the Affordable Care Act (branded ‘Obamacare’), low-income people with HIV were trapped in a heinous Catch-22. Insurance companies denied them coverage because of their status, the drugs were too expensive to buy outright, and they might only qualify for Medicaid’s partial coverage if their HIV had progressed and they became too sick to work. Their only recourse: wait and get sicker until treatment arrived. Under the ACA, insurance companies were no longer able to deny anyone coverage because of preexisting conditions, and early treatment for HIV—a matter of life and death—became a real possibility.
- Before passage of the Affordable Care Act (branded ‘Obamacare’), low-income people with HIV were trapped in a heinous Catch-22. Insurance companies denied them coverage because of their status, the drugs were too expensive to buy outright, and they might only qualify for Medicaid’s partial coverage if their HIV had progressed and they became too sick to work. Their only recourse: wait and get sicker until treatment arrived. Under the ACA, insurance companies were no longer able to deny anyone coverage because of preexisting conditions, and early treatment for HIV—a matter of life and death—became a real possibility.