Regardless of if you have insurance or not, there are systems in place in every state where you can get HIV medications and treatment.
In the United States and especially in different states, you have programs like the Ryan White program and different parts of the Ryan White program which basically can allow you to go and get your visits and get things covered. It can be dental care, it can be mental health care, could be your provider visits.
And then we have something called the AIDS Drug Assistance Program or what’s called ADAP, which can actually help it so that if you meet the income criteria, you can actually get your HIV medications for free. You may qualify for Medicaid, you may qualify for Medicare, you may qualify with some of the pharmaceutical companies who actually have drug copay cards.
So just know that there’s a lot of things out there for you. And just because you don’t have a job, you don’t have a steady income, you don’t have insurance, that doesn’t mean that you can’t take care of your health at the same time.
Dr. David Malebranche, MD, MPH, a clinician-researcher specializing in HIV, gives the lowdown on all things HIV care and treatment in the latest installment of the #AskTheHIVDoc video series.
