:: Research, Studies & Reports

Alphabetized List of HIV Research, Studies & Reports.
This is a comprehensive list of articles demonstrating the benefits of early HIV treatment access on cost-effectiveness, consumer health outcomes and quality of life, and HIV prevention.

	Bozzette, S.A., Joyce, G., McCaffrey, D.F., et al. (2001). Expenditures for the care of HIV-infected patients in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 344, 817-823. This study concludes that the total cost of care for adults with HIV infection has declined since the introduction of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). Expenditures for medications have increased since this time; however, reduction in hospitalization and other related costs often offset such increases.
	Gebo, K.A., Chaisson, R.E., Folkemer, J.G., et al. (1999). Costs of HIV medical care in the era of highly active antiretroviral therapy. AIDS, 13, 963-969. The study found a significant decrease in inpatient hospital costs associated with treating opportunistic infections and community care costs for patients receiving protease inhibitor-containing regimen compared to those not receiving protease inhibitors. Even with the concurrent increase in medication costs, total health care costs remained stable or even lower for patients with access to protease inhibitors.
	IOM (Institute of Medicine) (2004). Public financing and delivery of HIV/AIDS care: Securing the legacy of Ryan White. In May 2004, the IOM released a report that stated the federal government should expand its role in the financing of HIV/AIDS treatment for low-income Americans by establishing and assuming all costs for a national entitlement program.
	Rodgers, J. & Yip, R. (2003). An analysis of the Early Treatment of HIV Act: Prepared for the Treatment Access Expansion Project. PricewaterhouseCoopers. TAEP retained PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess the effects of early intervention health care under ETHA. The study found that over ten years, ETHA reduces the death rate for people living with HIV on Medicaid by 50% and saves the federal government $31.7 million.

	Bhattacharya, J., Goldman, D., & Sood, N. (2004). The link between public and private insurance and HIV-related mortality. Journal of Health Economics, 22, 1105-1122. A 2004 study conducted by affiliates of Stanford University and the RAND Corporation concluded that insurance expansions for HIV positive patients would save lives. Examples of such insurance expansions include allowing HIV positive patients to keep private coverage as their disease progresses or extending Medicaid coverage to HIV positive populations. According to this study, public insurance expansions will save the most lives if they include alleviating restrictions on drug coverage that limit access to HAART. The study concluded that an expansion of public insurance coverage through Medicaid for individuals with HIV could reduce mortality among the uninsured by up to 66%.
	Freedberg, K.A., Losina, E., Weinstein, M.C., et al. (2001). The cost-effectiveness of combination antiretroviral therapy for HIV disease. New England Journal of Medicine, 3, 824-31. This study found that patients receiving a three-drug HAART regimen experienced an increase in quality-adjusted life expectancy to 3.51 years compared to 1.97 years for those patients receiving no HAART therapy. The study also found that the lifetime cost and the cost per quality-adjusted life year were significantly lower when patients received HAART therapy. In short, the study concludes that access to HAART regimens is both a cost-effective and clinically effective approach to treating HIV.
	Lapins, D.L., Urdaneta, M.E., Barrett, J., et al. (2000). Cost of care for HIV infection in a managed care population from 1995-1997. American Journal of Managed Care, 6, 973-981. This study found that with the early introduction of HAART, there was a reduction in mortality from 4.8% in 1995 to less than 1% in 1997. The Lapins study also demonstrated that, with the introduction of HAART, the number of patients with undetectable viral loads increased from 6% in 1996 to 56% at the end of 1997.
	Rodgers, J. & Yip, R. (2003). An analysis of the Early Treatment of HIV Act: Prepared for the Treatment Access Expansion Project. PricewaterhouseCoopers. TAEP retained PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess the effects of early intervention health care under ETHA. The study found that over ten years, ETHA reduces the death rate for people living with HIV on Medicaid by 50% and saves the federal government $31.7 million.

	Lapins, D.L., Urdaneta, M.E., Barrett, J., et al. (2000). Cost of care for HIV infection in a managed care population from 1995-1997. American Journal of Managed Care, 6, 973-981. This study demonstrates that with early HAART introduction, the number of patients with undetectable viral loads increased from 6% in 1996 to 56% at the end of 1997. Later research confirmed that reducing the amount of HIV virus present in a person's bloodstream (viral load) is a key factor in decreasing infectiousness and reducing a person's ability to transmit HIV.
	Porco, T.C., Martin, J.N., et al. (2004). Decline in HIV infectivity following the introduction of highly active antiretroviral treatment. AIDS, Jan 2, 18(1), 81-88. The study ultimately rejected the hypothesis that infectivity - the probability that an uninfected person will acquire HIV in a partnership with an infected person - was the same in the pre-HAART and post-HAART eras. To the contrary, this study found a 60% decline in infectivity of HIV that coincided with the introduction of HAART. This study supports the effectiveness of early access to HIV treatment as a valuable component of HIV prevention.
	Fang, C., Hsu, H., Twu, S., et al. (2004). Decreased HIV transmission after a policy of providing free access to highly active antiretroviral therapy in Taiwan. Journal of Infectious Diseases, 190, 879-885. This study found that since the Taiwan government implemented a policy of providing all HIV-infected citizens with free access to HAART therapy, the rate of new HIV infections has decreased by 53%. The study confirms that early access to treatment is a productive means to reducing HIV transmission.