HIVMA supports public plan option to ensure patients' needs are met

Today, HIVMA released a position statement, which has also been adopted by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), outlining additional reasons a public plan option is so important for people with HIV:

• A public plan option would offer greater dependability, consistency and security than private plans, which can close, merge or change benefits at will.
• Even in a well-regulated private insurance market, such as the Medicare Part D prescription drug program, private plans have limited patients' access to drugs by charging high co-payments for HIV medications and imposing burdensome prior authorization requirements on non-HIV medications. The purchasing power of a public plan option would offer greater opportunities to lower the cost of these drugs and other services.
• Traditionally, public programs, such as Medicare, have been leaders in developing and supporting innovative chronic disease management approaches, such as the medical home model. The coordinated, comprehensive approach offered by medical homes is critical to keeping many people with HIV in treatment and addressing their complex health care needs.

HIVMA also released a set of health care reform principles for meeting the needs of people living with HIV. The principles outline the needs any national health care reform plan must meet to ensure HIV patients receive the proper care, stem the spread of the epidemic, improve care quality, and reduce costs.

HIVMA is the professional home for more than 3,600 physicians, scientists and other health care professionals dedicated to the field of HIV/AIDS. Nested within the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), HIVMA promotes quality in HIV care and advocates policies that ensure a comprehensive and humane response to the AIDS pandemic informed by science and social justice. IDSA is a professional society representing more than 8,600 physicians and scientists who specialize in infectious diseases. For more information, visit our websites: www.hivma.org and www.idsociety.org.