Obamacare failing Austin's HIV+ Community

"Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need."
Ephesians 4:28

Sigh.  On the one hand, this is tragic.  On the other hand, it's amusing to see a group of people counting on big government to subsidize treatment for the consequences of their freely chosen activity disappointed:

A bartender at one of Austin’s gay nightclubs recently decided to donate all tips he and his fellow drink pourers received one night to a local group dedicated to helping people with HIV and AIDS.

Ripped, shirtless and offering plenty of flirty smiles, 26-year-old Bradley Franklin, who is HIV positive, wanted to give something back to AIDS Services of Austin, the group that shepherded him through the treacherous health insurance landscape that has emerged since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

....

Franklin learned that the plans on the federally created health insurance exchange, the Internet-based marketplace where consumers can compare and buy health plans, didn’t offer affordable ways to buy the life-saving medications he needs or allow him to see a physician with expertise in HIV and AIDS, he said.

....

One of the most significant issues is that many HIV patients who bought plans on the exchange can’t afford medications, which often run as high as $2,000 a month, he said. In most exchange plans, policyholders must pay a percentage of the cost of their drugs, not an affordable co-pay. Also, expensive and frequent lab tests for HIV and AIDS patients can run upwards of $1,700 a test.

“For a lot of patients, it actually created more barriers,” Wright said. “It’s kind of overwhelming.”

In the days before the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, only about 30 percent to 40 percent of HIV patients in Central Texas had private insurance. The percentage remains the same today, Wright said.

....

Peter Pitts, a former U.S. Food and Drug Administration official and current president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, echoed Wright’s assessment. He said before the law’s rollout, the standard talking point of proponents was that people shouldn’t have to choose between food or medicine.

“Unfortunately not only did the ACA not solve that problem, it made it worse,” Pitts said. “That’s shameful.”

[Author's Note: Emphasis added.]

Read the whole thing here.

Bottom Line: This website has no desire to stop anyone from engaging in whatever behavior they choose to engage.  But, in the event you choose to engage in risky behavior, you need to be prepared to accept the full financial consequences of your actions.  And those consequences can get very, VERY expensive....