HIV and No Health Care
This is a quick look at how drug prices for HIV medications can be detreimental and our health care system can fall short. This does not only hurt the 40 million in the US without insurance but also those who are underinsured. HIV/AIDS medication can run up a huge medical billing, often costing thousands of dollars per month depending on the regimen. A common starting regimen consists of Lopinavir (Kaletra) boosted by Ritonavir/Lamivudine/Zidovudine. The price of a month’s supply for each medication can be as high as 198.99$, 289.99$, 385.88$, 170.00$. This adds up to more then 1k a month in just medication costs. Other starting regimens including brand Atripla can be more then 1500$ for a one month supply. If you don’t have health insurance the cost of your care can exceed your reach with the comination of health related bills. You can even just be underinsured for medication costing you large copays exceeding 500 dollars a month. These factors can make it very hard for uninsured to pay for their medical bills and not go into debt. In the end this can hurt the overall health care you recieve, and potentially forces patients to go without care.
If you are recently diagnosed all the new medications and treatments will no doubt be overwhelming. You should see a doctor, and a HIV specialist if possible. They will take labs to help decide on when treatment should begin. The NIH did a study and determined the level at which you should begin treatment. Mortality rates increase if HAART is initiated below 0.200 x 10(9) cells/L. Also, nonadherent patients have higher mortality rates than adherent patients with similar CD4+ cell counts. Above a CD4+ cell count of 0.200 x 10(9) cells/L, medication adherence is the critical determinant of survival, not the CD4+ cell count at which HAART is begun.
