(Washington) A bipartisan bill that advocates say will save lives by allowing states to provide Medicaid coverage to low-income, HIV-positive Americans has been reintroduced in Congress.

The legislation addresses a gap in health care coverage for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS.

Despite the fact that Medicaid is the largest single provider of HIV/AIDS care in the U.S., currently most adults with HIV are not eligible for Medicaid until they have progressed to full blown AIDS.

Without Medicaid coverage, many low-income Americans are left without the critical care and medication needed to help slow the progression of the disease.

According to a study conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, enactment of this legislation would reduce the death rate among individuals on Medicaid living with HIV/AIDS by half over ten years.

“Now that we have a President who is willing to sign, we urge Congress to pass this common-sense legislation that would save countless lives and taxpayer dollars,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese.

“With early treatment, we’ll be improving the quality of life for HIV-positive Americans; we’ll be reducing the number of infections by lowering viral loads; and we’ll be saving money by treating the infection before it worsens.”

Passage of the bill into law would create significant savings for taxpayers its supporter say, because early treatment for HIV-positive individuals would delay both the need for more expensive forms of treatment and the time at which individuals would become medically disabled. It could also reduce demands on the SSI, Social Security Disability Insurance Savings and Medicaid and Medicare programs.