Question

1. What diseases does Medicare automatically cover regardless of age? Why didn’t Medicare cover additional diagnoses such as AIDS?

Answer 1

Patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease or end-stage renal disease also known as kidney failure can receive Medicare regardless of age. They do not have wait for 24 months to be eligible.

One important criteria of Medicare is that it does not cover the outpatient prescription drugs of the patient, as a result Medicare holder with HIV/AIDS does not get coverage for highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), which is considered very crucial in the treatment and containment of HIV/AIDS. Another major reason is that an AIDS patient requires many other sources and support like social case management or preventive services but Medicare limits its support and do not provide coverage for nonmedical services.