by Amy Killelea, Senior Manager, Health Care Access, NASTAD
Amy Killelea, Senior Manager, Health Care Access, NASTAD
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) presents an unparalleled opportunity to decrease HIV and viral hepatitis infection rates, increase early access to care and treatment, and promote health equity. However, in order to use the ACA as a set of tools to meet these goals, we as a community must be prepared to not only adapt to the changes the ACA will bring, but to innovate along with a changing health care landscape. The ACA’s Medicaid health home program – which provides states with enhanced federal funding to offer a set of care coordination services to Medicaid beneficiaries living with chronic conditions – provides an opportunity to leverage the expertise and “whole person” models of care that are the hallmark of the Ryan White Program. On World AIDS Day, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the Department’s increased support and commitment to working with states to ensure that this program includes people living with HIV, including codifying HIV as a qualifying condition in formal rulemaking (HIV is currently included as qualifying condition through informal guidance). It is now up to states to take advantage of this program to improve care and treatment for people living with HIV and viral hepatitis. Continue reading →
The Medicaid expansion is a significant opportunity to expand access to care to people living with HIV and viral hepatitis, making the debates over expansion playing out in state governors’ offices and legislatures incredibly important. Because of the Supreme Court decision limiting the federal government’s power to force states to comply with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion, there is a real question of if and when every state will comply with the expansion. Continue reading 
