Early Treatment for HIV Act

The Early Treatment for HIV Act (or ETHA) (S. 833 and H.R. 1616) is a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate.

The stated purpose of the bill is "to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit States the option to provide Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals infected with HIV."

Problems with Medicaid Coverage Before ETHA

Before the Early Treatment for HIV act, adults with asymptomatic HIV were ineligible to receive SSI income until they had developed AIDS. This is due to a person being unable to receive SSI payments unless they are classified as disabled. Many individuals were not able to receive medical care for their HIV because they did not quality for Medicaid, and their symptoms continued to progress without treatment.

ETHA (S. 860) would help adults with asymptomatic HIV receive treatment, which will slow the development of AIDS and lessen the severity of their symptoms. It would also result in a lower viral count for those treated, which means AIDS will be less likely to spread from that person to someone else.

Previous Versions of the Bill

Congress Short title Bill number(s) Date introduced Sponsor(s) # of cosponsors Latest status
106th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 1999 H.R. 1591 April 28, 1999 Nancy Pelosi

(D-CA)

73 Died in committee
S. 902 April 28, 1999 Robert Torricelli

(D-NJ)

5 Died in committee
107th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2001 H.R. 2063 June 5, 2001 Nancy Pelosi

(D-CA)

152 Died in committee
S. 987 June 5, 2001 Robert Torricelli

(D-NJ)

12 Died in committee
108th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2004 H.R. 3859 February 26, 2004 Nancy Pelosi

(D-CA)

156 Died in committee
Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2003 S. 847 April 9, 2003 Gordon H. Smith

(R-OR)

33 Died in committee
109th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2005 S. 311 February 8, 2005 Gordon H. Smith

(R-OR)

38 Died in committee
110th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2007 H.R. 3326 August 2, 2007 Eliot Engel

(D-NY)

168 Died in committee
S. 860 March 13, 2007 Gordon H. Smith

(R-OR)

38 Died in committee
111th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2009 H.R. 1616 March 19, 2009 Eliot Engel

(D-NY)

187 Died in committee
S. 833 April 20, 2009 Chuck Schumer

(D-NY)

37 Died in committee
112th Congress Early Treatment for HIV Act of 2012 H.R. 6006 June 21, 2012 Eliot Engel

(D-NY)

1 Died in committee


In the 110th Congress, ETHA (S. 860 was introduced in the U.S. Senate on March 13, 2007. The bill was sponsored by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) with 38 cosponsors including Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT).

Previous versions of the bill were introduced in the Republican-controlled 106th, 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses. In each case, the bill never made it out of committee.

References

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