As California Goes...

With federal lawmakers still coming up short in attempts to pass the Early Treatment for HIV Act'which would broaden Medicaid coverage to include all HIVers, not just those who've progressed to an AIDS diagnosis'a California superior court has ordered that the state immediately expand its coverage. The ruling stemmed from a lawsuit alleging that the state's Medi-Cal program was not offering services to all HIVers as mandated by a 2002 law. State officials said they hadn't expanded coverage because it was too expensive to do so. But health experts say early treatment helps prevent the development of expensive-to-treat AIDS-related complications and is more cost-effective in the long run.