Editing AIDS Crisis in Philadelphia (section)

== Turning Point ==

The mid-1990s brought dramatic improvements in treatment that transformed AIDS from certain death to manageable chronic illness. Protease inhibitors and combination therapy (highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART) could suppress the virus and prevent progression to AIDS. People who had been preparing to die suddenly had futures again. Death rates from AIDS plummeted. The crisis did not end—HIV remained incurable and continued to spread—but its character changed fundamentally. Philadelphia's AIDS organizations shifted focus from caring for the dying to supporting the living, preventing new infections, and ensuring access to treatment.<ref name="shilts"/>

Treatment access became a new battleground. Effective medications were expensive; not everyone who needed them could afford them. The Ryan White CARE Act, federal legislation that funded HIV/AIDS treatment and services, became crucial for uninsured and underinsured patients. Medicaid coverage was essential for low-income patients. Philadelphia's AIDS service organizations added medication access and insurance navigation to their services. The question became not whether treatment existed but whether everyone could get it. Disparities by race and class in HIV outcomes reflected broader healthcare inequalities.<ref name="grmek"/>