AIDS Action Day

Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, watches as Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, addresses the audience at AIDS Action Day, organized by the Minnesota Aids Project on Tuesday at the Capitol.

Eight years ago, Minneapolis resident Bill Johnson’s immune system crashed, nearly killing him.

“My doctor looked at me one day and said, ‘Get ready,’” Johnson said.

Johnson, 44, developed full-blown AIDS in 1995, the year a new generation of HIV/AIDS medications became available.

Luckily for Johnson, the medications worked and his health improved steadily, but not without an expensive price tag. The cost of Johnson’s HIV/AIDS medications exceeded $3,000 a month, and two-thirds of his monthly paycheck went toward medical expenses.

Yesterday, Johnson joined about 100 other concerned citizens at the Minnesota State Capitol for AIDS Action Day. The lobby day, organized by the Minnesota AIDS Project, gave them a chance to discuss with legislators the bill that could ease the costs of prescription medication for low-income HIV/AIDS patients.

The HIV Prevention and Health Care Access Bill will be introduced this week in the Minnesota legislature.

“Nobody deserves to go through that hell of deciding if they can afford to [pay rent] and eat food, or die because they cannot afford their meds,” Johnson said.

Dilemmas such as Johnson’s encouraged Sen. John Hottinger to co-author the HIV Prevention and Health Care Access Bill.

“With HIV, the loss of health care can be a death sentence,” Hottinger said. “It’s an issue of social justice.”

Hundreds of Minnesotans with HIV/AIDS are in danger of losing their medications because of their inability to pay the state mandated co-pays, said Amy Weiss, communications director for the Minnesota AIDS Project.

“If people miss even one dose of their medication, there are consequences,” Weiss said. “Their bodies begin to build resistance to their medication.”

Currently, patients who cannot afford their co-pay would be removed from the existing medical-assistance program altogether, said Bob Tracy, director of development for the Minnesota AIDS Project.

Providing access to drug treatments and health care for people living with HIV/AIDS allows patients to live longer, he explained.

“Not only do [patients] live longer, but you also reduce the amount of viral activity in their bodies, so they become less infectious,” he said.

Tracy added that once HIV/AIDS treatment is started, it must continue uninterrupted in order to avoid creating a new public health problem with a drug-resistant strain of the HIV virus.

Elizabeth Dickinson, manager of community affairs for the Minnesota AIDS Project, agrees with Hottinger.

“No one living with any kind of medical condition should be discouraged from seeking treatment because of inability to pay,” Dickenson said. “Health care access is a basic human right.”

Dave Dorman, Boynton health educator, agrees that state HIV policy should focus on access to health care and on prevention of new infections, both of which are addressed by the current bill.

“This bill makes sense from a public health point of view,” Dorman said.

Rep. Ron Abrams said he is worried about the bill’s $12.4-million price tag, considering difficulties in balancing the state budget.

“I’m just concerned about the cost,” he said.

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Josh H., 22, is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer.

He will be moving to Manhatttan in September 2005 to pursue a career as a magazine writer.

A local newspaper commissioned Josh to write this story.