Universal health care needed to end HIV epidemic in the USA

Abstract

Access to adequate health care is a fundamental human right that has yet to be realised for millions of people in the USA.1 A transition to a single-payer health system has been described as unfeasible; however, in 2019, the introduction of the Medicare for All Act in US Congress renewed discussions regarding its economic viability.1 In this Comment, we discuss how a single-payer universal health care system would dismantle the structural barriers that prevent timely diagnosis, linkage to care, and viral suppression of people living with HIV/AIDS and appropriate persistence on pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to prevent HIV infection.