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| AIDS Action works to ensure that all Americans, including people living with HIV/AIDS, have access to quality, affordable health care, including ground breaking HIV medications, regardless of how care is delivered through the private sector or through public health programs, including Medicaid and Medicare. Improving access to treatment includes: ensuring access to affordably priced pharmaceuticals; reinventing Medicaid to better serve the needs of people living with HIV disease; enacting meaningful managed care reform; making work a reality for people living with HIV/AIDS through the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Act of 1999. Work Incentives: For people with HIV/AIDS and other disabilities, returning to or beginning a job can be challenging, and the fear of losing health care coverage is one of the main barriers preventing people with disabilities from returning to work. The Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act of 1999 (P.L. 106-170) amends the Social Security Act to allow people with disabilities who want to return to work to do so without losing their health care benefits. The act also removes barriers to employment by creating several new vocational rehabilitation and job support service programs. Managed Care Reform: People with disabilities and chronic health care conditions, including people living with HIV/AIDS, are particularly vulnerable in today's changing health care market, particularly with the increasing use of managed care to control costs. Strong federal legislation establishing a floor of strong quality standards and other protections is needed to ensure that health care consumers have access to quality health care in the private insurance market. Medicare: Medicare is the second largest source of HIV/AIDS care in the United States and provides health care to one in five people living with HIV/AIDS who are receiving on-going health care, although it does not provide critical coverage for prescription drug coverage needed to keep seniors and people with disabilities, including people with HIV/AIDS alive. If a Medicare drug benefit was added to the program, it must meet the needs of people with disabilities. Publications: Policy Facts: Medicare Matters For People Living With HIV/AIDS Medicaid/Medicare Dual
Eligibility for People Living With HIV/AIDS As current HIV treatments increase life spans for those living with the disease, an increasing number of individuals are becoming dually eligible for Medicaid and Medicare. AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) face challenges in helping clients secure those benefits. The report highlights outcomes from a 1999 AIDS Action meeting to address this critical and growing issue. Medicaid: Medicaid is one of the most important programs for people living with HIV/AIDS, providing access to health care for over 53% of all adults with HIV disease and over 90% of all children living with HIV/AIDS. Medicaid eligibility could be expanded to include low-income HIV positive individuals, allowing low-income individuals living with HIV disease to receive health care and life-prolonging prescription drugs before disease progression occurs. Publications: Medicaid Managed Care &
HIV/AIDS: A Guide for Community-Based Organizations Ryan White CARE Act: The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act represents the Federal Government's largest financial allocation specifically for HIV-related health and support services. (The following
files are in PDF Format) Links: |