Open AccessImproving Hepatitis B Care in the US: A Case for a New "Ryan White" Program
Author(s) -
Jonathan D. Alpern,
Thomas M. Leventhal,
Nathan C Bahr
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of health care for the poor and underserved
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1548-6869
pISSN - 1049-2089
DOI - 10.1353/hpu.2020.0077
Subject(s) - disadvantaged , medicine , white (mutation) , hepatitis b , white paper , inclusion (mineral) , family medicine , chronic hepatitis , gerontology , health care , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , immunology , political science , sociology , gender studies , law , virus , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Chronic hepatitis B infection is common in the United States, yet only a minority of eligible people are screened, vaccinated, and receive treatment. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS program has been a key tool for ensuring that socioeconomically disadvantaged HIV-infected patients have access to care. Many of the same disease and patient attributes that make the Ryan White program necessary and effective for HIV exist in chronic hepatitis B. Thus, we believe that the current Ryan White program should be expanded to care for people with hepatitis B under similar regulations. Considering recent changes proposed to the health insurance marketplace, policymakers should strongly consider inclusion of chronic hepatitis B in the safety-net Ryan White Program.