PROJECT INFORM IN OTHER MEDIA ... 2008

Health insurers may cover AIDS/HIV screenings

dailytitan.com, by Laura Olsen, September 29, 2008

(mention of Project Inform in bold below)

The health of Californians is at risk due to the fact that 40,000 residents unknowingly have HIV, according to the state's Office of AIDS, but Gov. Schwarzenegger could drastically lower those numbers by signing AB 1894 into law.

The governor has until the end of today to sign or veto the bill, along with 300 other pieces of legislation that were still awaiting his decision as of Monday night, according to Office of the Governor and the California State Legislature's Web sites.

The bill is authored by Assembly Member Paul Krekorian, and if approved, will require private insurers to cover screenings, which cost as little as $20 per test, according to emaxhealth.com.

AB 1894 was already approved by the Assembly Committee of Health on April 14 with a vote of 12-5, and is awaiting Schwarzenegger's approval, according to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

As if the stressors of exams, paying bills and keeping gas in the car were not enough, Project Inform, a program that advocates for people living with HIV, said STDs such as HIV affect more college-age people than anyone else.

In 2006, most infections occurred among young people between the ages of 13 and 29, making up 34 percent of those infected, Project Inform confirmed. 

“I think the governor should sign the bill because if HIV is affecting so many people it is better to take care of the problem now, especially because there is no cure for it right now,” criminal justice major Elvira Suazo, 18, said.

The Center for Disease Control estimates that 50-70 percent of all new infections are contracted from individuals who are unaware they carry the virus.

In 2007, Schwarzenegger signed into law AB 682, which simplified approval for HIV testing in California. The law eliminated the requirement of written patient consent and parent or guardian consent for minors to get the screening, according to Project Inform.  Thus patients only need to verbally agree to HIV testing.

If AB 1894 is approved it will make California the most proactive in the nation with regards to the HIV, by adhering to the CDC’s recommendation and requiring all health care plans to pay for HIV testing whether or not the patient is showing symptoms, as stated on medicalnewstoday.com's Web site. 

The bill analysis estimated that if AB 1894 is approved, and goes into effect Jan. 1, 2009, the total annual expenditures would increase by $554,000 per year, due to administrative costs and costs for tests previously not covered. It would increase insurance premiums by $512,000, but it would amount to an increase of less than one cent per member, per month, according to info.sen.ca.gov.

Opponents of this bill – including America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the Association of California Life and Health Insurance Companies, California Association of Health Plans (CAHP) and Kaiser Permanente – argue that this bill will drive up costs of insurance that could otherwise be used to provide uninsured people with health coverage. They also contend that it will drive employers to self-insure, leaving consumers with no health care benefits, according to info.sen.ca.gov.

A 2006 study by the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control found that most people who progressed to AIDS within a year of their initial HIV diagnosis had up to five doctor visits within the previous year.

“Public health is important. I don’t know why an insurance company wouldn’t cover screenings,” CSUF history major Todd Rosewitz, 18, said. “It would even cost them more money in the long run if they don’t test people and then treat them for HIV later on when their symptoms have gotten worse.”

A person who is HIV-positive may feel completely healthy and not have any apparent HIV related symptoms for several years after infection, according to Anthony Distefano, assistant professor in the department of health science at CSUF. AIDS is the final stage of the HIV infection where the immune system is deteriorated as stated by www.essortment.com.

“People need to be tested and learn their status, and they need to be able to do so regularly. The fewer barriers we have to that occurring, the better,” Distefano said. 

According to Project Inform, African Americans suffer seven times the infection risk as whites. And Latinos suffer three times the number of infections as whites.

Distefano stated that the reason minorities suffer a higher infection rate is a result of many factors including poverty, access to health services, cultural beliefs and practices and the various ways racism is manifested in our society.

Not all individuals will develop the characteristic flu-like symptoms of HIV, thus it is important to be tested regularly, according to epigee.org.

“When talking about heterosexual transmission of the virus specifically, it is biologically easier for a woman to contract HIV,” Distefano said.

He also said that, because of persistent power dynamics in heterosexual relationships overall, it's often difficult for a woman to insist on the use of condoms or otherwise control sexual encounters with men in a way that would protect them from HIV.

According to the California Department of Health, rapid HIV testing may help to reduce the number of people who have HIV and don’t know it.  It has also been proven that when people learn they are HIV-positive they are less likely overall to exhibit behaviors that cause further transmissions, Project Inform said.