Many People with HIV/AIDS Not Getting Proper Treatment.

A report from the AIDS Research Institute of the University of California San Francisco found that in the four large states which were studied (Texas, Florida, California, and New York), many patients are unable to obtain proper HIV medications through both Medicaid and ADAP (the AIDS Drug Assistance Program). In Texas, the worst of the four, about half to two thirds of patients who rely on these public programs are not getting proper treatment. The report was scheduled for publication in March 2001, but was leaked to the media in early November. An Associated Press story is available at: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001103/hl/aids_treatment_1.html

Comment

This report puts numbers on a dirty little secret which has been widely known but not much discussed--that even within the U.S., whether you get lifesaving treatments for AIDS depends greatly on where you live. Private insurance (not studied in the research discussed here) also has great geographic variations. Very few people can pay for antiretrovirals entirely out of pocket, especially when they earn less because of their illness.

Living in rural areas, and/or the South, have long appeared to be significant risk factors for inadequate access to expensive AIDS medication. But much of the variation seems random.