Graham, Young arrested in Washing- ton, D.C., at ... - CD8 T cells

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HIV + Me
Chris Companik
Chris@hivnme.com
Support for AIDS Survival Project is provided by the Ryan White Title I CARE Act, the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, the
Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund, Fulton County Human Services, the LiveWell Fund, Bristol-Myers Squibb Immunology,
Georgia Shares, IBM, GlaxoSmithKline, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, DeKalb School Employees Fund, Broadway
Cares/Equity Fight AIDS, the BroadView Foundation and hundreds of organizations, businesses and individuals who
share our vision and commitment to the education, empowerment and support of all people affected by HIV and AIDS.
PEER COUNSELING PERSPECTIVES, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
described, Ryan White funds are allocated by elected
state and federal politicians.
The Ryan White CARE Act funds a multitude of
programs. Among these are the AIDS Drug Assistance
Programs (ADAPs), for which states are required
to provide matching funds, and the Health
Insurance Premium Payment (HIPP). The HIPP
pays the monthly insurance premium for consumers
who meet their state’s financial eligibility standards.
This assists low-income workers who cannot
afford the insurance offered through their employers
or who lose their jobs and can’t pay for the CO-
BRA benefits to which they are entitled.
The discrepancy in available services that was
addressed in the IOM report is well-illustrated in
ADAPs. ADAPs pay for prescription medications for
people with HIV/AIDS who have no other funding
source. Nearly 30% of people living with HIV/AIDS
in the U.S. are served by ADAPs. The steadily increasing
number of HIV+ people, in addition to new
and increasingly expensive HIV medications, strains
states’ ADAP funds. In May 2004, the Kaiser Family
Foundation reported on states’ responses to these
financial pressures. They found that thirteen state
ADAPs had instituted cost-containment measures,
including eleven states that closed enrollment to new
clients. Nine states reported waiting lists, two states
have reduced the number of drugs they offer and
three states have some type of per capita expenditure
limits.
Each state determines which drugs will be on
their formulary and what their eligibility requirements
will be to qualify for HIV-related medications
through the ADAP program. As of May 2004, the
number of drugs on state ADAP formularies throughout
the U.S. ranges from 18 to 474. Sixteen state
ADAPs did not even cover all the FDA-approved antiretroviral
medications. Financial eligibility for ADAPs
ran from 125% of the Federal Poverty Level to 500%
or higher.
Since access to ADAP and HIPP vary so much
across the U.S. and its territories, case managers at
Ryan White-funded clinics and social service agencies
can be contacted for details on how to access
programs in a particular geographical area.
AIDS activists fight frequent battles with their
state and federal legislators to keep programs adequately
funded to meet the needs of the growing
number of people diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. You
can let your legislators know what their decisions
mean to you through letters, e-mails, phone calls
and your vote!
S U R V I V A L N E W S