Richard Rivera is right (“Catch-22,” Voice, July 23). Many people with HIV want to go back to work. But if the drugs that make you healthy enough to work cost $1,000 a month or more, and you won’t have health insurance that covers that cost, you probably can’t afford to go back to work.
AIDS Legal Council of Chicago has a special project designed just to address the problems Mr. Rivera describes. With support from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago and the assistance of the SSI Coalition, we provide training and advocacy for people with HIV who want to return to the workplace.
Some people returning to work may be eligible for their life-saving drugs through the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program. Others may be able to afford the Illinois Comprehensive Health Insurance Plan, an alternate health-insurance plan for people who can’t buy insurance because of pre-existing conditions like HIV. Still others, perhaps including Mr. Rivera, may be helped by the federal Health Insurance Portability and Affordability Act, which limits pre-existing conditions exclusions in group policies for people who’ve recently had other coverage.
These choices don’t mean there’s an answer for everyone. Every day we advise people that unless they can find a job with a health-insurance plan that includes pharmacy coverage and doesn’t have a pre-existing condition exclusion, then they probably can’t afford to even try to work. Extending Medicaid coverage for people with disabilities who return to work, just as we’ve extended it for AFDC families who return to work, would open up wonderful new opportunities for people with HIV.
