Study Finds H.I.V. Drugs Priced Out of Reach
New York Times, 28 January 2015 - A new study conducted by Harvard researchers and recently published in the New England Journal finds out that remedies to treat HIV/AIDS are priced out of reach for many patients who are enrolled in the America’s health insurance plans.
Despite warnings that such practices are illegal and discriminate people the analysis shows that a quarter of the plans are skirting these laws with drastic financial impact for patients: "A patient taking a common H.I.V. treatment, Atripla, would pay about $3,000 more a year in a restrictive plan compared with someone enrolled in a more generous plan, even after accounting for the fact that the more restrictive plans tended to charge lower monthly premiums".
Source:
Using Drugs to Discriminate — Adverse Selection in the Insurance Marketplace
Jacobs et al. (2015). The New England Journal of Medicine