Destroying the ACA Could Bring HIV Thundering Back

The vote on the new U.S healthcare bill, colloquially called ‘Trumpcare’ is one of the most talked about issues in the news. People all over the country are talking about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) saved their lives and how Trumpcare might deprive them of that life-saving care. One group of people that is most at risk if this new healthcare bill passes is those who are HIV positive. It’s possible that destroying the ACA could result in a resurgence of new HIV cases, while denying medication and care to those who need it most.

Before the ACA

Before the ACA was passed, very few people with HIV had the resources to manage their condition. Less than 13% were able to utilize private insurance. An unfortunate 24% had no insurance whatsoever, and many didn’t qualify for insurance due to having a pre-existing condition. Medications were priced high and were out of reach of many people who needed them most.

After the ACA

The Medicaid expansion enabled low-income patients to obtain the treatment that they needed. It also lowered the cost of prescription drugs, making them easier to obtain. Tax credits enabled individuals and families to purchase affordable private insurance. Eliminating lifetime caps ensured that individuals were able to obtain continuous care without worrying about their insurance running out.

By expanding preventative care, making the three types of HIV tests available to all, and creating more comprehensive care for chronic health conditions, the ACA made it easier to obtain treatment.

Prevention, Not Cure

Proper care helps to reduce the number of new infections. By maintaining constant treatment, an individual with HIV can reduce their viral load to negligible amounts. An undetectable viral load means that the body is able to fight off infections much better. More importantly, an undetectable viral load means that the risk of passing on HIV to someone else is greatly reduced.

This is one of the biggest impacts of the ACA for people with HIV — it makes it much harder to pass the disease to other people.

Now — Trumpcare

The new healthcare plan that is currently making its way through Congress threatens to undo a lot of the good that the ACA has done. While the rules preventing insurance companies from refusing coverage based on pre-existing conditions will remain in place, they will likely be more expensive and the reintroduction of yearly and lifetime caps will cause patients to lose their coverage just when they need it most.

Trumpcare will also gut the Medicare and Medicaid expansions, totally dismantling it by 2020 and taking coverage away from more than 14 million individuals.

This loss of healthcare coverage for individuals with HIV and other pre-existing conditions is potentially fatal. One thing that the Republicans in Congress haven’t considered is the global impact on the spread of diseases that are currently controlled by the preventative care made available by the ACA. Without preventative treatment, HIV is only one of the conditions that might make their way back into the world as millions of people lose their healthcare under this new legislation.