Kaiser Permanente Reports Findings in HIV/AIDS (Affordable Care Act Implementation in a California Health Care System Leads to Growth in HIV-Positive…

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Kaiser Permanente Reports Findings in HIV/AIDS (Affordable Care Act Implementation in a California Health Care System Leads to Growth in HIV-Positive Patient Enrollment and Changes in Patient Characteristics)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Data detailed on Immune System Diseases and Conditions - HIV/AIDS have been presented. According to news reporting out of Oakland, California, by VerticalNews editors, research stated, "This study examined implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in relation to HIV-positive patient enrollment in an integrated health care system; as well as changes in new enrollee characteristics, benefit structure, and health care utilization after key ACA provisions went into effect in 2014. This mixed-methods study was set in Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC)."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Kaiser Permanente, "Qualitative interviews with 29 KPNC leaders explored planning for ACA implementation. Quantitative analyses compared newly enrolled HIV-positive patients in KPNC between January and December 2012 ('pre-ACA,' N = 661) with newly enrolled HIV-positive patients between January and December 2014 ('post-ACA,' N = 880) on demographics; medical, psychiatric, and substance use disorder diagnoses; HIV clinical indicators; and type of health care utilization. Interviews found that ACA preparation focused on enrollment growth, staffing, competition among health plans, concern about cost sharing, and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services. Quantitative analyses found that post-ACA HIVpositive patient enrollment grew. New enrollees in 2014 were more likely than 2012 enrollees to be enrolled in high-deductible plans (P < 0.01) or through Medicaid (P < 0.01), and marginally more likely to have better HIV viral control (P < 0.10). They also were more likely to be diagnosed with asthma (P < 0.01) or substance use disorders (P < 0.05) and to have used primary care health services in the 6 months postenrollment (P < 0.05) than the pre-ACA cohort. As anticipated by KPNC interviewees, ACA implementation was followed by HIV-positive patient enrollment growth and changing benefit structures and patient characteristics."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Although HIV viral control improved, comorbid diagnosis findings reinforced the importance of coordinated health care."

For more information on this research see: Affordable Care Act Implementation in a California Health Care System Leads to Growth in HIV-Positive Patient Enrollment and Changes in Patient Characteristics. Jaids-Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes, 2016;73(5):E76-E82. Jaids-Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes can be contacted at: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Two Commerce Sq, 2001 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103, USA.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting D.D. Satre, Kaiser Permanente, Div Res, Oakland, CA, United States. Additional authors for this research include A. Altschuler, S. Parthasarathy, M.J. Silverberg, P. Volberding and C.I. Campbell.

Keywords for this news article include: Oakland, California, United States, North and Central America, Immune System Diseases and Conditions, Diagnostics and Screening, Epidemiology, Viral Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Conditions, Primate Lentiviruses, Affordable Care Act, Vertebrate Viruses, HIV Infections, Retroviridae, RNA Viruses, HIV/AIDS, Kaiser Permanente.