BREAKING: Bill in Massachusetts Will Help Those Disfigured by Old HIV Meds

On Tuesday, a bill requiring insurers to pay for treatments to correct lipodystrophy (fat deposits) and lipoatrophy (wasting) finally moved out of the House Financial Services Committee of the Massachusetts legislature, as first reported by David Heitz for imstilljosh.com (which is published by Josh Robbins, the HIV Plus Video Correspondent).

While most insurance companies pay for procedures to reconstruct a breast when a woman loses one to cancer, or at least a prosthesis, people with lipodystrophy and lipoatrophy must wear their deformity like a badge unless they have the resources to correct the problem. It’s a throwback to the days when people with HIV were thin and gaunt, essentially with bodies that screamed out “I have AIDS.” (source: imstilljosh.com)

The movement of the bill in Massachusetts gives hope to long-term survivors, suffering from excess fat deposits or wasting.  It would provide the financial support for the costly treatments needed by patients repairing the obivous battle scars from a tough fight against HIV/AIDS.  

Just days before the first National HIV/AIDS Long-term Survivors Awareness Day,  this bill reminds us of the tough struggle of long-term survivors physically and gives reason to celebrate these individuals nationally.