State Fires Contractor in Charge of Enrollment in AIDS Drug Program

Detail of the California State flag

People with HIV in California weren’t getting their meds and timely care, according to a report.

March 6, 2017

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California ended its contract with a company hired to enroll HIV-positive people in a program to provide access to medication, Kaiser Health News reports.

A.J. Boggs & Company failed to keep an online enrollment portal working and hired a subcontractor without giving proper notice to the state, according to the California public health department.

Advocates across the state had been complaining for months about the company’s performance regarding enrollment, which affected people’s access to lifesaving HIV meds. A previous report by California Healthline and Kaiser Health News found that people weren’t able to get needed meds and medical care.

The health department said that instead of hiring a new contractor, it would take over the tasks of determining eligibility to its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and overseeing enrollment.

A separate company, Magellan Rx Management, of Arizona, has been in charge of pharmacy benefits services and will continue in this role.

About 30,000 low-income people in California living with HIV use ADAP to access meds and care, reports Kaiser Health News.

Receiving medication in a timely manner is critical to the health of people with HIV. To learn more about this topic, read the POZ Basics topics Starting HIV Treatment, HIV Medications and HIV Drug Assistance Programs.

Read more articles from POZ, here.