Tina Smith: “more and more our country's fight against HIV/AIDS is being hindered because we are not focusing enough of our resources…”

“more and more our country's fight against HIV/AIDS is being hindered because we are not focusing enough of our resources on treating individuals who have been diagnosed with HIV so we prevent their illnesses from progressing to full-blown AIDS. This is especially true for those with low-income who may lack stable access to potentially life-saving pharmaceutical treatments and other health care services. While Medicaid is an important provider of health care to vulnerable Americans living with AIDS, they generally must be disabled before they can qualify for coverage. In a sense, we require them to become sicker before they can get treatment, and that is simply not right. Full-blown AIDS is an incredibly costly illness and it has much more of an impact on an individual's quality of life than HIV. That is why it is important for us to focus our resources on providing early treatment to individuals with HIV. Earlier this year, I, along with 27 of my colleagues, filed legislation that would have allowed states the option of providing Medicaid coverage to low-income individuals who have been diagnosed with HIV. The initiative, known as the Early Treatment for HIV Act, or ETHA, was modeled after the successful breast and cervical cancer benefit added to Medicaid program several years ago. My amendment would provide the care in the same ``early is better'' fashion, so that more HIV cases are prevented from reaching the point of full-blown AIDS.…”