Statement from HIVMA Chair Adaora Adimora, MD, MPH on the Release of the Updated National HIV/AIDS Strategy and the 50th Anniversary of Medicaid and Medicare:

As we applaud the release of the 2015 to 2020 National HIV/AIDS Strategy, it is fitting to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Medicaid and Medicare programs. The updated NHAS comes on the heels of important clinical trial findings confirming the significant benefits of antiretroviral drugs for HIV treatment and prevention. This evidence must drive the NHAS and move us to ensure access to HIV prevention, care and treatment for all people with HIV - regardless of who they are or where they live.

Medicaid and Medicare - the two largest federal funders of HIV care - are central to our success in putting evidence into action, reducing new HIV infections, improving health outcomes and reducing HIV-related disparities. With the Affordable Care Act, these programs have brought access to vital services to people living with HIV.

While scientific advances inspire optimism, the path forward is complicated by stigma, discrimination, complex social factors, challenges to the ACA and Medicaid, and federal budget austerity measures. Limited access to and poor uptake of approved medications for HIV prevention, late HIV diagnosis, late entry into care, and poor retention in care significantly hamper our ability to decrease new infections and achieve the optimal outcomes we all want for people already living with HIV.

We must act with urgency to address these issues and:

  • Expand Medicaid in the 20 states that have not done so;
  • Expand HIV testing and improve linkage to care;
  • Address barriers to retention in care;
  • Eliminate discriminatory insurer practices that obstruct access to antiretroviral therapy;
  • Ensure access to qualified HIV providers;
  • Leverage all available scientifically proven tools, including syringe access programs;
  • Urge a budget deal and sustain federal funding for HIV prevention at the CDC, care through the Ryan White Program and research at the National Institutes of Health, the Agency for Health Care Quality and Research and other federal research entities.

The evidence is clear: early initiation of HIV treatment dramatically improves health outcomes and successful treatment defined as viral suppression prevents HIV transmission.

Today we launch the second National HIV/AIDS Strategy - and celebrate the successes of the Medicaid and Medicare programs in improving access to health care services for the poor, disabled and seniors, including hundreds of thousands of people with HIV. HIVMA also recommits to working with federal policymakers and private and community partners to move the science to the frontlines and make the NHAS' vision ­- a world where new HIV infections are rare - a reality.