AIDS Drug Assistance Program disenrollment is associated with loss of viral suppression beyond differences in homelessness, mental health, and substance use disorders: An evaluation in Washington state 2017–2019

by Steven J. Erly, Christine M. Khosropour, Anjum Hajat, Monisha Sharma, Jennifer R. Reuer, Julia C. Dombrowski

AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs) are state-administered programs that pay for medical care for people living with HIV in the US. Maintaining enrollment in the programs is challenging, and a large proportion of clients in Washington state (WA) fail to recertify and are disenrolled. In this study we sought to quantify the impact of disenrollment from ADAPs on viral suppression. We conducted a retrospective cohort study of the 5238 clients in WA ADAP from 2017 to 2019 and estimated the risk difference (RD) of viral suppression before and after disenrollment. We performed a quantitative bias analysis (QBA) to assess the effect of unmeasured confounders, as the factors that contribute to disenrollment and medication discontinuation may overlap. Of the 1336 ADAP clients who disenrolled ≥1 time, 83% were virally suppressed before disenrollment versus 69% after (RD 12%, 95%CI 9–15%). The RD was highest among clients with dual Medicaid-Medicare insurance (RD 22%, 95%CI 9–35%) and lowest among privately insured individuals (RD 8%, 95%CI 5–12%). The results of the QBA suggest that unmeasured confounders do not negate the overall RD. The ADAP recertification procedures negatively impact the care of clients who struggle to stay in the program; alternative procedures may reduce this impact.