Vol 23, 2014 Annals of Health Law 56
THE ACA AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS
of Effectiveness to gather hard data on HIV care nationwide.224 Second,
HIV/AIDS health advocates and medical experts should encourage state
legislators to adopt the Medicaid expansion as soon as possible.225 Third,
HHS must issue a more explicit mandate upon both private and public plans
that requires them to cover vital medical treatment for PLWHA.226 Finally,
Congress must continue to fully fund the Ryan White Program in order to
meet the health care needs of PLWHA in need of supplemental coverage.227
A. The Department of Health and Human Services’
Seven Core Indicators of Effectiveness
HHS must gather concrete information from medical service providers
on who is receiving regular medical care and how they are receiving it if it
is going to determine why so many PLWHA are not receiving regular
medical care.228 The Seven Core Indicators of Effectiveness request
information including the number of patients diagnosed with stage 3 AIDS,
the number of PLWHA prescribed Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART), the
number of PLWHA receiving regular medical care, and the number of
people diagnosed with HIV who are homeless.229 This information will tell
HHS whether PLWHA do not receive regular medical care because, for
example, they stop seeking care after they receive their initial dose of
medication or whether they stop seeking care before they are even
prescribed ART.230 The indicators will also give HHS an indication of to
what extent other factors, such as homelessness, affect a person’s ability to
remain in regular medical care.231
To assist agencies and medical service providers trying to collect this
hard data, HHS should mandate that all HHS funded agencies use its Seven
Core Indicators of Effectiveness. If HHS mandates that all funding
grantees use its factors, information will be pulled from as many sources as
possible, including common sources of health insurance for PLWHA such
as Medicaid.232 Once grantees have gathered this information, HHS will be
better able to determine what steps should be taken to improve adherence to
224. See infra Part V. A.
225. See infra Part V. B.
226. See infra Part V. C.
227. See infra Part V. D.
228. See Crowley & Kates, supra note 4, at 11.
229. Forsyth & Yakovchenko, supra note 218.
230. Id.
231. Id.
232. See Crowley & Kates, supra note 4, at 11.
