Maine Medicaid Plan Will Provide Early Treatment for HIV.Maine is taking the lead with the nation's first pilot program to expand benefits to people living with HIV HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), either of two closely related retroviruses that invade T-helper lymphocytes and are responsible for AIDS. There are two types of HIV: HIV-1 and HIV-2. HIV-1 is responsible for the vast majority of AIDS in the United States. . The five-year demonstration project starts in September. New drug treatments, unthinkable even a few years ago, are allowing people with HIV to live longer and healthier lives. At the same time, rates of infection continue to increase among the poor, racial and ethnic minorities, and injecting drug users-the very people who do not usually have adequate health care. The complex issues of cost and access to the new drugs represent a growing concern to policymakers. Current Medicaid eligibility requirements have historically excluded coverage for those with HIV who do not yet have full-blown AIDS, the life-threatening condition that results from HIV infection. Yet research shows that early treatment of HIV using new classes of drugs called highly active antiretroviral therapy Noun 1. highly active antiretroviral therapy - a combination of protease inhibitors taken with reverse transcriptase inhibitors; used in treating AIDS and HIV drug cocktail, HAART (HAART HAART highly active antiretroviral therapy. HAART Highly active antiretroviral therapy, triple combination therapy AIDS The concurrent administration of 2 nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors–eg, AZT and 3TC, and a protease ) significantly improves the health of people living with HIV and makes progression to AIDS less likely. More than three and a half years ago, Francis Finnegan, the director of Maine's Bureau of Medical Services, began thinking about ways to "rationalize ra·tion·al·ize v. 1. To make rational. 2. To devise self-satisfying but false or inconsistent reasons for one's behavior, especially as an unconscious defense mechanism through which irrational acts or feelings are made to appear Medicaid policy" when he first learned of the benefits of HAART. "Medicaid offers individuals with full blown AIDS comprehensive care. But for people with HIV, Medicaid won't touch you until your health is so deteriorated that you become disabled," he says. In response to the growing discord Discord See also Confusion. Andras demon of discord. [Occultism: Jobes, 93] discord, apple of caused conflict among goddesses; Trojan War ultimate result. [Gk. Myth. between the Medicaid eligibility requirement and the new early treatment recommendations, Finnegan and other Maine policymakers submitted a waiver proposal to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Noun 1. Department of Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Health and Human Services, HHS for broadened Medicaid eligibility requirements. Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala approved the Medicaid waiver plan at the end of February. To be eligible for Maine's demonstration project, a participant must be HIV-positive and have an annual income of less than 300 percent of the federal poverty level-or approximately $25,000. The benefits covered will include HAART, office visits, lab services, case management, hospitalizations, and mental health and substance abuse services. |
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