Early Medicaid Treatment: Bipartisan Bill in Senate With 32
Cosponsors, Could Cut HIV Deaths on Medicaid in Half February
28, 2005 On February 8, 2005, Senators Gordon Smith, Hillary
Clinton, and 30 other cosponsors introduced the Early Treatment
for HIV Act (S. 311, known as ETHA). This bill would let states
choose to pay for early HIV treatment under Medicaid, instead of
waiting until people become disabled due to advanced illness. A
study by PricewaterhouseCoopers projected that over 10 years,
early treatment would reduce deaths of persons with HIV on
Medicaid by 50%, and more than pay for the cost of care by
reducing hospitalization and other expenses of serious illness
later. Another benefit is that person on antiretroviral
treatment become less infectious due to a lower viral load,
reducing transmission to others. The bill expands existing
provisions for breast cancer to also include HIV. Under the
existing Federal law, early treatment for breast cancer has been
implemented by 49 states. For more inform