This is a quick look at how drug prices for HIV medications can be detreimental and our health care system can fall short. This does not only hurt the 40 million in the US without insurance but also those who are underinsured. HIV/AIDS medication can run up a huge medical billing, often costing thousands of dollars per month depending on the regimen. A common starting regimen consists of Kaletra boosted by Ritonavir/Lamivudine/Zidovudine. The cost of a 30 day supply for each drug can be as high as 198.99$, 289.99$, 385.88$, 170.00$. This totals over 1,000$ a month in just HIV medications. Other starting regimens including atripla can be more then 1500$ for a one month supply. So if you have no insurance your total care costs can quickly rise out of your reach with the combination of bills for doctors visits, medication, and time lost not working. You can even just be underinsured for medication costing you large copays exceeding 500 dollars a month. These factors can make it very hard for uninsured to pay for their medical bills and not go into debt. In the end this can hurt the overall health care you recieve, and potentially forces patients to go without care.

If you are recently diagnosed all the new medications and treatments will no doubt be overwhelming. It is critical that you start seeing a HIV specialist as soon as possible. They should take labs immediatly to help you start to get a better idea when to start treatment. The NIH did a study and determined the level at which you should begin treatment. Mortality rates go up if HAART is started below 0.200 x 10(9) cells/L. Also, nonadherent patients have higher mortality rates than adherent patients with similar CD4+ cell counts. Above a CD4 count of 0.200 x 10(9) cells/L, medication adherence is the critical determinant of survival, not the CD4+ cell count at which HAART is begun.

Tags: HIV Medication, Atripla, HIV Drugs, Health, AIDS Drugs