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Funding for Ryan White, which is the Federal program that supplies all the
money for HIV/AIDS programs throughout the USA, is NOT getting funded as
needed. Congress is not meeting the funding needs for AIDS programs. Money
for critical needs such as care, housing, ADAP and other services will not be
enough. Although they are offering increases, the increases are not what we
need. The AIDS Drug assistance Programs (ADAP) is funded by Ryan White and
provides money to the states that supports patient's accessing HIV
medications through ADAP. All states including NY are facing shortfalls in
funding that will require cutbacks. In some cases, some states will be forced
to close their programs to new clients. Other severe restrictions may be put
into place.
You can call your Congressperson or NY Senator to voice your concerns and
needs. The US House and Senate are now considering the funding Bill that will
allocate money to HIV/AIDS programs (Labor/HHS appropriations bill # S.1536).
This Bill will be discussed on the Senate Floor by next week. It is urgent to
call your Senator now.
NY Senators-
Hillary Clinton
Tel # 202 224-4451
Health Policy Aide- Megan Thompson
Charles Schumer
Tel # 202 224-6542
Health Policy Aide- Christine Parker
You can reach your U.S. Senators by calling the Capitol switchboard at
202-224-3121 or toll-free at 1-800-648-3516 and asking to be transferred to
their offices.
When you call your Senator or Congressperson use this message:
"The Senate Appropriations Committee's numbers, while appreciated, are
inadequate to meet growing demand. People living with HIV and AIDS need
Senator_____________ to do everything in his/her power to ensure that the
full Senate approves the highest possible funding for all HIV/AIDS programs."
And feel free to express your personal needs and concerns about funding for
HIV and Hepatitis C care and access to treatment. When you call Schumer and
Clinton, you can mention NATAP, as we recently met with the Health Policy
Aides (Thompson and Parker) in these Senator's offices to talk about these
issues. If you are from Florida we recently met with Jocelyn Moore in Senator
Bob Graham's office.
See additional key issues to talk about with at the end of this letter.
Status Report New York State AIDS Drug Assistance Program
• NYS ADAP provides access to viral HIV/AIDS medications to over 21,000
uninsured and underinsured persons living with HIV/AIDS each year.
• NYS ADAP has a $7 million structural deficit (projected annual expenditures
exceed annual revenues) for Fiscal Year 2001/02 due to an inadequate increase
in Federal funding.
• The structural deficit is currently being addressed by a moratorium on new
drugs and services (initiated in November 2000) and transferring savings from
other HIV/AIDS programs.
• NYS continues to experience a growth in enrollment of more than 4,500 new
clients per year, and will increase this rate by using $1.4 million to target
new outreach efforts to minority communities.
• In the next year, there will be a need to cover new FDA approved HIV
antiretrovirals, the new standard of care for hepatitis C treatment, and to
address emerging HIV related conditions such as osteopenia/osteoporosis.
• NYS ADAP has had consistent $20 million increases in expenditures each year
of the previous three years and expects at least the same growth rate for FY
2002/03.
• All of the Ryan White CARE Act Title I EMAs (NYC, Lower Hudson, Long Island
and Dutchess County) have committed to increasing their contribution to NYS
ADAP by 25% in FY 2002/03. However, these increases ($5 million) and
available savings will not be sufficient to resolve the structural deficit
and keep pace with a $20 million annual growth in FY 2002/03.
• NYS ADAP requires its share (18%) of a minimum national increase of $120
million in the ADAP Supplemental appropriation, in order to avoid a major
structural deficit in FY 2002/03 that would require program restrictions.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
You can call your Congressman or woman and Senator and express your concerns.
When you call you should ask to speak with the Health Policy Aide.
NY Senators are:
Hillary Clinton
Tel # 202 224-4451
Health Policy Aide- Megan Thompson
Charles Schumer
Tel # 202 224-6542
Health Policy Aide- Christine Parker
Key points to make are:
• You and others rely on ADAP funding to access your HIV medications
• You are concerned about adequate funding for care, testing and treatment
for Hepatitis C medications. Also, coverage for diagnostic testing (biopsy,
genotype testing, HCV viral load) is important. ADAP, Medicaid, and other
public reimbursement programs MUST provide adequate care for Hepatitis C and
HCV/HIV coinfection
• Funding for this year is inadequate. The ADAP Working Group has requested
an additional $120 million for 2002 for all state ADAPs to cover additional
expenses and coverage on top of what ADAPs were receiving for 2001. The Bush
Administration and Congress are only offering $20-60 million. Because of the
anticipated funding shortfalls, NY and many other states will not be able to
offer services and medications to many individuals. NY is in financial
difficulties but other states are in worse shape. Some of their new
restrictions due to this shortage in money is that they will have to close
access to their programs for new patients.
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