NOTE ABOUT GUEST AUTHORS
-our guests posted in the "comments" instead of as a guest author-
One guest is a student at UW-Eau Claire.
Another guest is a patient living with HIV under an anonymous name.
Another guest is a nurse working in a local clinic.
Lastly a guest who is uninsured and has no permanent address.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Monday, April 6, 2009
Health Care Reform 4
Globally, HIV/AIDS has infected about 40 million people, with over one million of the cases being from the United States. From the diagnosis of HIV until death the most accurate estimate of medical care costs is $119,000 per person. These costs hinder anyone’s ability to pay for these life-prolonging medications without the help of Medicaid, especially low-income individuals, many of which are uninsured or underinsured. We are proposing that Congress pass legislation to offer coverage through Medicaid to individuals living with HIV.
The greatest obstacle for those living with HIV is meeting Medicaid’s prerequisites regarding eligibility. Medicaid requires a disability diagnosis; therefore HIV infected individuals can not receive the benefits offered through Medicaid until they have a confirmed AIDS diagnosis. Since the cost of combination drug therapy known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is $12,000 or more per year, treatment is often unavailable to many HIV patients in the United States. This treatment would normally help to prevent the decline of the immune system. Without any treatment, the chance of developing an opportunistic infection, which often times leads to the diagnosis of AIDS, would increase. By the time an individual qualifies for Medicaid, the prognosis of the disease has often times become too detrimental to benefit from current treatments offered or provided through Medicaid.
Although there would be an additional federal expense, the benefits would exceed the costs. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have calculated that expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals with HIV prior to disability would amount to an additional federal expense of $393 million over a five-year period. Within in this five-year period, 18,000 more individuals would qualify for HIV treatment. When compared to the annual costs to treat an individual with advanced AIDS, HAART is much more cost-effective at $12,000 a year per person. Early treatment would not only save money, but it would prolong as well as increase the quality of life for HIV/AIDS patients. Individuals would be more likely to perform the daily duties they were able to prior to diagnosis, such as working.
Our proposal is important because HIV/AIDS affects so many people worldwide. Giving individuals Medicaid in an earlier stage extends and improves life which a dollar amount cannot be attributed to. The surrounding individual’s quality of life would also increase. With Medicaid covering the large medical expenses that comes with having HIV/AIDS, families are not put in a financial bind in order to support the HIV/AIDS individual.
References
(2003). Early Treatment for HIV Act. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from Until It's Over AIDS Action Web site: http://www.aidsaction.org/communications/publications/ETHA_facts.pdf
(August 2008). HIV/AIDS in the United States. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/Factsheets/us.htm
Obama-Biden. (2008). Barack Obama: Fighting HIV/AIDS Worldwide. Retrieved April 3, 2009. From http://nationalaidsstrategy.org/OBAMAFactSheetAIDS.pdf
Shi, L., & Singh, D. (2008). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, HIV/AIDS. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from AIDS.gov Web site: http://www.aids.gov/
The greatest obstacle for those living with HIV is meeting Medicaid’s prerequisites regarding eligibility. Medicaid requires a disability diagnosis; therefore HIV infected individuals can not receive the benefits offered through Medicaid until they have a confirmed AIDS diagnosis. Since the cost of combination drug therapy known as highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is $12,000 or more per year, treatment is often unavailable to many HIV patients in the United States. This treatment would normally help to prevent the decline of the immune system. Without any treatment, the chance of developing an opportunistic infection, which often times leads to the diagnosis of AIDS, would increase. By the time an individual qualifies for Medicaid, the prognosis of the disease has often times become too detrimental to benefit from current treatments offered or provided through Medicaid.
Although there would be an additional federal expense, the benefits would exceed the costs. Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco have calculated that expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals with HIV prior to disability would amount to an additional federal expense of $393 million over a five-year period. Within in this five-year period, 18,000 more individuals would qualify for HIV treatment. When compared to the annual costs to treat an individual with advanced AIDS, HAART is much more cost-effective at $12,000 a year per person. Early treatment would not only save money, but it would prolong as well as increase the quality of life for HIV/AIDS patients. Individuals would be more likely to perform the daily duties they were able to prior to diagnosis, such as working.
Our proposal is important because HIV/AIDS affects so many people worldwide. Giving individuals Medicaid in an earlier stage extends and improves life which a dollar amount cannot be attributed to. The surrounding individual’s quality of life would also increase. With Medicaid covering the large medical expenses that comes with having HIV/AIDS, families are not put in a financial bind in order to support the HIV/AIDS individual.
References
(2003). Early Treatment for HIV Act. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from Until It's Over AIDS Action Web site: http://www.aidsaction.org/communications/publications/ETHA_facts.pdf
(August 2008). HIV/AIDS in the United States. Retrieved April 1, 2009, from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site: http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/resources/Factsheets/us.htm
Obama-Biden. (2008). Barack Obama: Fighting HIV/AIDS Worldwide. Retrieved April 3, 2009. From http://nationalaidsstrategy.org/OBAMAFactSheetAIDS.pdf
Shi, L., & Singh, D. (2008). Delivering Health Care in America: A Systems Approach (4th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, HIV/AIDS. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from AIDS.gov Web site: http://www.aids.gov/
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