Minnesota HIV Program Cuts Debtors

Health officials in Minnesota plan to cut low-income HIVers from the state's HIV program, which provides low-cost antiretrovirals and helps pay for private insurance, because they owe several hundred dollars in copayments. The Department of Human Services has already cut three program participants who owed a combined total of $3,000 in overdue copays. As many as eight others owing between $500 and $1,000 each were being considered for removal. State health officials say it is necessary to remove program participants with large unpaid bills to keep the program financially stable and to avoid having to implement other cost-cutting measures, like capping enrollment. AIDS advocates say the low-income HIVers the state plans to cut from the program are among the neediest in the state and that curtailing their access to antiretroviral drugs could result in faster HIV disease progression, the development of drug resistance, and serious health complications.