The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP) and 15 other HIV advocacy organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief January 13 in the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, a.k.a. health care reform, according to a CHLP statement. The brief was authored by attorneys with Lambda Legal and the law firm Ropes & Gray, and it regards the case Department of HHS v. Florida, which has faced a series of legal challenges. Supporters maintain that the Affordable Care Act, which bans discrimination based on preexisting conditions, will allow many more people with HIV to access private health insurance, thereby lessening the financial burden on federal and state governments. According to advocates, when the bill was signed in 2010, only 17 percent of people with HIV had private health insurance, underlining how few people with HIV had access to private insurance.

To read the CHLP statement, click here.