Treating HIV and AIDS poses tremendous challenges to health policymakers. To date, policymakers have lacked information about the interaction among employment, costs, ands treatment to adequately assess the efficacy of policy choices. Our proposed research will use a nationally representative population of patients receiving care for HIV to assess the links among government policy, treatment, insurance, and the labor market outcomes of HIV.
The specific aims are: (1) Estimate the extent to which public and private insurance protects HIV patients against deteriorating health status; (2) Assess the longitudinal relationships among medical costs, labor market outcomes, insurance coverage and health status of HIV patients; and (3) Develop and estimate a dynamic model of health status, insurance, employment, receipt of therapy, and medical costs; and use this model to stimulate the effects of innovative state and federal policy changes. The integrated model to be developed as part of the final aim can be used to stimulate how broad changes in Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs will affect insurance coverage, treatment, and labor market outcomes in a dynamic setting. The model will be an invaluable tool for assessing the likely consequences of policy changes such as the Work Incentives Improvement Act, which extends Medicare coverage to the working disabled.
