Low-income Virginia residents living with HIV have better health outcomes if they switch their coverage from the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) to an Affordable Care Act (ACA, Obamacare) plan, MedPage Today reports. Reporting their findings at the IDWeek Meeting in San Diego, researchers looked at 3,933 HIV-positive Virginians who were eligible for ACA-based insurance and who were clients of the state’s ADAP.

A total of 1,849 (47.1 percent) of the group enrolled in an ACA plan, while 2,084 (52.9 percent) kept receiving health coverage through ADAP.

Of those who switched to an ACA plan, 85.5 percent had a fully suppressed viral load, compared with 78.7 percent of those receiving ADAP coverage.

Those who were less likely to switch to an ACA plan included: people 25 to 44 years of age; blacks; people with an AIDS diagnosis; men; and those who were not specifically targeted for enrollment in an ACA plan (such as people whose insurance was not ending).

To read a press release on the study, click here.

To read the MedPage Today article, click here.