House ACA Replacement Bill

Statement from HIVMA Chair Wendy Armstrong, MD, FIDSA on the House ACA Replacement Bill:

The HIV Medicine Association is deeply concerned about the impact of the House ACA replacement bill on the health and lives of the 1.2 million Americans living with HIV. The private insurance market elements, such as the requirement for continuous coverage and the insufficient tax credits for lower income individuals, will likely shut the door on coverage in the individual insurance market for most people with HIV. Forty percent of individuals with HIV in care rely on the Medicaid program for their healthcare coverage. The House proposal to fund Medicaid based on a per capita cap will shift costs to the states and threaten access to healthcare services and treatment for the hundreds of thousands of individuals with HIV who are covered by the program. If advanced, the ACA replacement bill stands to threaten our progress in diagnosing and treating patients with HIV and increase healthcare disparities both between states and based on socioeconomic status. These proposals will not only harm individuals with HIV but will compromise our nation’s public health by leaving fewer with access to the antiretroviral treatment that keeps patients healthy and reduces their risk of transmitting HIV to near zero. We strongly urge the committees to reconsider the bill and the accelerated and non-transparent process with which these proposals have been advanced.