Advocates aim to broaden the availability of Medicaid for the purpose of facilitating access to AIDS treatment.

By Pennie Spruill On Dec 2, 2023

On World AIDS Day, people who are working to get more people in various states to be able to get Medicaid are stressing how important their work is.

They told Axios, “We know that any steps towards expanding Medicaid are good for our patients and bring down the cost of HIV drugs.” Jones is the national head of advocacy at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.

“Even though there are programmes available to assist them, everybody doesn’t qualify because a lot of them are income-based, so when we expand Medicaid, that makes it better for everyone who is seeking treatment,” said Jones.
Jones said that one of the foundation’s projects is working with partner groups to push for Medicaid expansion in states that don’t already have it.

WABE says that Georgia has one of the highest rates of HIV in the United States.

Dr. Daniel Driffin, of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network, told WABE, “We really need to have a different conversation with our lawmakers to expand Medicaid to lower that burden and be able to use those prevention dollars some other place.”
Back off: The Department of Health and Human Services says that more than a million people in the U.S. have HIV.

KFF also says that 10 states do not have expanded Medicaid yet, even though expanding the programme has made it easier for people with HIV to get treatment.

“Medicaid covers a broad range of services, many of which are important for people with and at risk for HIV, including prescription drugs, inpatient and outpatient care, and preventive services,” says KFF.