To help people with HIV who cannot afford their antiretroviral (ARV) medications, former President Bill Clinton has proposed that the U.S. government allow low-cost generic versions of patented HIV drugs to be sold domestically until the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. health care reform) takes full effect in 2014, The Washington Post reports. Fully implemented health care reform will provide nearly universal health insurance, thereby providing more coverage to people with HIV. Until then, Clinton suggested that inexpensive generic ARVs, which are mostly manufactured in India for use in developing nations, could be made available to low-income HIV-positive Americans currently on AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting lists. More than 6,000 low-income Americans are on waiting lists for ARVs in 12 states. Clinton made his remarks on December 1 during an event titled “The Beginning of the End of AIDS.”

To read the Post article, click here.