Some HIV-positive North Carolina residents are relying on federal and community assistance programs to manage their disease, NPR's "News & Notes with Ed Gordon" reported on Tuesday. Many low-income, HIV-positive U.S. residents must choose between paying for medications and physician visits or paying for food and housing, NPR reports. According to a Duke University study, 70% of HIV-positive people in Southern U.S. states live below the federal poverty level, and 90% of them are classified as low-income at the time of their diagnosis. In North Carolina, Medicaid is the most common form of health insurance among the state's approximately 25,000 HIV-positive residents, NPR reports. In order to qualify for the program, HIV-positive adults without children must have an AIDS diagnosis or be classified as disabled for another reason and have an income below the poverty line. The segment includes comments from Evelyn Foust, head of North Carolina's HIV/STD Prevention and Care Branch, and HIV-positive Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in North Carolina (Todd, "News & Notes with Ed Gordon," NPR, 7/19).

The complete segment is available online in RealPlayer.

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