How do I pay for treatment?

How do I pay for treatment?

HIV drugs can cost from $15,000 to $40,000 a year, and the doctor visits aren't cheap, either.

If you are working and have commercial health insurance through your employer, the insurer will pay for your drugs and visits. You may spend a hundred dollars or so every month in prescription and office visit copays, but that’s a lot better than paying full price.

If you are not working, or your employer does not offer health coverage and your income is below a certain limit (the limit varies by state), both you and your dependents may qualify for Medicaid. Your drugs and visits will be paid for by Medicaid, often without any copays. Having Medicaid paying your health care bills can make it harder, though, to find a doctor you like. Medicaid does not pay doctors and other providers as generously as commercial insurers and Medicare do, and many medical practices won’t take Medicaid patients.

If you don’t have coverage through your employer and your income is too high for Medicaid, you may have to buy individual non-group health insurance. Until 2014, commercial insurers in many states will not insure HIV-positive people or will not cover the drugs. Until then, your best option may be to turn to your state’s Pre-existing Condition Insurance Plan (PCIP). You may qualify for PCIP coverage if you have been uninsured for at least six months, you have a pre-existing condition, and you have been denied coverage (or offered insurance without coverage of the pre-existing condition) by a private insurance company.

If you don’t quite qualify for PCIP coverage, you may be able to get commercial insurance for everything but the HIV drugs, and get your drugs from your state’s AIDS Drugs Assistance Program (ADAP). The ADAP program may also help you with your insurance premiums. Each state administers its own ADAP program and has its own eligibility rules. Your HIV doctor or case manager should be able to help you navigate the system to get the drugs you need.

For more information on what’s available in your state, visit http://www.healthcare.gov/.

Well mind, well body

Living with HIV is stressful. Ask yourself what else is causing stress in your life, and see what you can do to get your stress levels down. Identify damaging stress-reduction behaviors – smoking, recreational drugs, more than very limited alcohol us – and find better ways to cope. Exercise can be surprisingly helpful in reducing stress.

Living with HIV can also be lonely. Especially if you are still digesting the news that you are positive, you may want to find a formal or informal support group, where you can talk about it with people who are in the same boat with you. You can ask your medical provider or local HIV services organization to help you find one. If you prefer to do your own research online, the HIV support and information site TheBody keeps a list of service organizations and the services they offer, at http://www.asofinder.com/.