Access to care crucial for Georgia’s most vulnerable

Access to healthcare is an essential part of my work advocating for LGBTQ communities and all people living with HIV AIDS My advocacy began at the height of the HIV AIDS epidemic in the s and one key lesson of that work among a great number of is that early screening and access to care save lives That s why I m so concerned about what could happen to over a million Georgians if Congress doesn t act ahead of open enrollment The enhanced premium tax credits that make Marketplace fitness insurance affordable are set to expire at the end of Without them premiums are expected to jump by thousands of dollars putting coverage out of reach for a great number of hardworking families including Georgia s majority vulnerable At Georgia Equality our mission is to advance fairness safety and opportunity for LGBTQ communities and our allies including all people living with HIV AIDS across Georgia At every step one thing has been clear When people have access to care they live healthier more stable and more dignified lives If Congress allows these tax credits to sunset they ll be limiting access to care for more than million Georgians including those with chronic conditions and living in rural areas According to fresh figures one in four people with chronic conditions across the country could lose access to care if the enhanced premium tax credits are not extended We all know healthcare is expensive But for people with chronic illnesses like cancer diabetes heart condition or HIV losing affordable coverage isn t just a financial burden it can be a matter of life and death Without insurance people are more likely to skip expert visits delay critical screenings or ration their prescriptions For the more than Georgians living with HIV missing doses of medication can mean the difference between managing the virus and facing devastating wellbeing consequences Regular screenings and early diagnoses save and improve lives a universal truth for nearly all therapeutic conditions This is particularly true for those with HIV who can protect both themselves and their partners by having access to antiretroviral medications that can help them maintain an indetectable viral load and therefore have effectively no vulnerability of transmitting the virus A loss of insurance could mean that individuals are no longer able to afford their medications and for HIV that means losing access to the tool that has stopped the spread of the virus The impact of allowing the enhanced premium tax credits to expire would be felt hardest in rural communities where insurance premiums are often significantly higher Rural residents are much less likely than their urban counterparts to have access to the greater part kinds of healthcare services and one in eight eligible men already live in HIV preexposure prophylaxis PrEP deserts As a upshot disparities in morbidity and mortality are widening The enhanced premium tax credits allow rural Georgians to access the affordable healthcare they need A reduction in federal promotion would further starve rural providers and could worsen the rural-urban healthcare disparities I ve seen firsthand how expanded access to care changes lives for the better Georgia has come too far to turn back We need to continue building a future where healthcare is within reach for every family regardless of who they are where they work or what soundness challenges they face The post Access to care crucial for Georgia s bulk vulnerable appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta