PI Action alerts & updates ... 2002

TAN Update

AIDS Drug Assistance Program Emergency Supplemental Unsuccessful; Efforts Turn to Upcoming Regular Appropriations Battle:

As reported in several previous TAN Alerts, advocates tried to obtain an emergency supplemental appropriation of $82 million for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program a few weeks ago as part of an emergency funding bill focused mainly on defense and homeland security programs. Unfortunately, even though there was a lot of grassroots advocacy on this issue, the ADAP supplemental never even came up for a vote, as we were unable to get a commitment from a U.S. Senator to champion the issue and offer an amendment to the bill. Thank you to everyone who called their Senators in support of this supplemental. Even though we were not successful in identifying a champion for the emergency funding, we were able to educate many Members of Congress about the ADAP crisis and they will remember that their constituents are paying attention when they vote on HIV/AIDS funding later this year.

The House and Senate did approve a $200 million emergency increase for the Global AIDS Fund, far short of the $750 million asked for by advocates and some Members of Congress.

So, ADAP remains at a deficit of $82 million for the current fiscal year. Meanwhile, more state ADAPs are reporting difficulties providing adequate treatment access. The following states/territories have implemented restrictions of some kind, including waiting lists in some of the states: Alabama, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, North Carolina, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Washington, and Guam. There are over 500 people on the waiting list in North Carolina.

Our efforts will now focus on advocating for a $162 million increase for ADAP in the upcoming appropriations process for Fiscal Year 2003 (October 1, 2002–September 30, 2003). This increase includes the current ADAP deficit and another $80 million increase identified as needed for the next Fiscal Year to help state ADAPs meet a minimal level of service.

Grassroots advocacy will be very important to meet this goal. Members of Congress need to hear from their own constituents about how the ADAP crisis is affecting them and people they care about. A small working group of the AIDS Treatment Advocates Coalition has come together to develop a grassroots campaign in support of increased ADAP funding, including a national call-in week in August to your legislators’ district offices and a call-in day in September to their DC offices. Look for Alerts in late July about this effort and how you can get involved!

Early Treatment for HIV Act Gets Republican Co-Sponsors:
The Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA) got another boost recently when two Republican Senators signed on as co-sponsors. Senator Gordon Smith (R-Oregon) was the first Republican in the Senate to sign on and Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) became a co-sponsor last week.

As reported in previous TAN Alerts, ETHA would allow state to include people living with HIV in their Medicaid program by adding HIV as an eligible category for coverage. Currently, most people living with HIV are ineligible for Medicaid until they reach the Social Security definition of disability. In most cases, they need to have full-blown AIDS before becoming eligible for Medicaid. Right now, states wish to cover people living with HIV under their Medicaid programs, they have to apply for a waiver from the federal government. This can be a lengthy and burdensome process. ETHA would eliminate the need for this waiver.

ETHA has been introduced in the House of Representatives as HR 2063 by Representatives Richard Gephardt (D-Missouri) and Nancy Pelosi (D-California). It has been introduced in the Senate as S. 987 by Senators Robert Torricelli (D-New Jersey) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Cosponsors are still needed for both bills. A strong list of bipartisan co-sponsors is essential for this legislation to move forward this year. Look for more information about how you can get involved in future TAN Alerts.

AIDS Medicare Coalition Announced:
Randy Allgaier, an AIDS advocate in San Francisco, has started a consumer coalition for people with AIDS who are covered by Medicare. This group, called the AIDS Medicare Coalition, is intended to involve people living with AIDS in the Medicare policy development and advocacy process.

The coalition has established an informative website, www.aidsmedicare.homestead.com/home.html, with information on Medicare policy issues, links to help Medicare consumers, and a section to sign up for email updates and alerts and to tell your own Medicare story. These types of personal stories are extremely useful when advocating with elected or administrative officials.

For more information about this coalition, contact Randy Allgaier at randy@allgaierhawn.net.