The Affordable Care Act and HIV/AIDS
(reprinted from the AIDS.gov website)
On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law and set into place a national effort to help ensure Americans have secure, stable, and affordable health insurance. The ACA is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the fight against HIV/AIDS in our history.
Here’s some of the many ways the Affordable Care Act Helps People Living with HIV/AIDS:
- Ensuring coverage for people with pre-existing conditions
- Expanding Medicaid coverage
- Providing more affordable private health coverage
- Lowering prescription drug costs for Medicare recipients
- Ensuring coverage of preventive services, including HIV testing
- Ensuring coverage of essential health benefits
- Increasing coordinated care for people with chronic health conditions
Have questions? Need more ideas? Contact Malinda Ellwood, Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School and Treatment Access Expansion Project, [email protected], or John Peller, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, [email protected] And of course, visit HIVHealthReform.org.
Additional Resources
The Affordable Care Act and HIV/AIDS – summary information from the Federal government’s AIDS.gov website
HIVHealthReform.org – AIDS Foundation of Chicago maintains this website to educate the HIV community about the Affordable Care Act
Healthcare.gov – Federal website with easy-to-understand information on health care reform
Kaiser Family Foundation Health Reform Central – fact sheets, charts, maps, and tools for understanding Health Reform and its impacts; includes 14-page Summary of the Affordable Care Act
Glossary of Health Reform Terms – prepared by the HIV Medicine Association
Helping People with HIV Navigate the Transition to ACA Coverage – 14-page issue brief dated July 2013 from the Kaiser Family Foundation
Essential Health Benefits – 6-page issue brief from the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (NASTAD) focusing on ACA’s Essential Health Benefits (EHB) provisions and their impact on persons living with HIV/AIDS
The Affordable Care Act and the Silent Epidemic: Increasing the Viral Hepatitis Response Through Health Reform – 20-page report from NASTAD
Improving Access to HIV Prevention, Care, and Treatment for Women – fact sheet from NASTAD
The Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace: Consumer education resources for public health practitioners – 4-page fact sheet from the American Public Health Association
