PI Action alerts & updates ... 2002

Organizational Endorsements for ETHA Needed

Dear TAN members:

Below is a request from the Treatment Access Expansion Project (TAEP) for organizations to endorse the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA). This bill would give states the option to expand Medicaid eligibility to include low-income, pre-disabled people living with HIV. If you are associated with an organization or coalition, please encourage that group to join this list of endorsers. Please also consider forwarding this message to your contacts, listserves, etc. and encourage other community groups to sign-on!

Organizations can sign on by emailing tan@projectinform.org. The deadline for signing on is Friday, January 3, 2003.

Please note that this is a request only for endorsements from organizations/coalitions/groups, etc. There will be further Alerts and ways for individuals to get involved with ETHA.

Below is a list of those who have signed on to date and background information on the bill.

Endorsers of the Early Treatment For HIV Act (as of 12/13/02)

ACT UP Atlanta
ACT UP Philadelphia
AIDS Action Baltimore
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
AIDS Project Los Angeles
Center for AIDS: Hope & Remembrance Project
Critical Path AIDS Project
Florida AIDS Action
Foundation for Integrative AIDS Research
Gay Men’s Health Crisis
HIV Medicine Association
International AIDS Empowerment
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
National ADAP Working Group
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Association of People With AIDS
National Minority AIDS Council
Philadelphia FIGHT
Pierce County AIDS Foundation
Program for Wellness Restoration
Project Inform
Power of Love Foundation
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
STOP AIDS Project
Title II Community AIDS Action Network
Treatment Action Group
University of Iowa HIV Program

Background:
The Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA) is currently pending in Congress. ETHA would allow states to extend Medicaid coverage to pre-disabled people living with HIV. It represents a breakthrough in assuring early access to care for thousands of low-income people living with HIV. Currently, most individuals with HIV must become disabled by AIDS in order to receive Medicaid coverage.

HIV/AIDS treatments are successfully delaying the progression from HIV infection to AIDS. These advancements have improved both the health and quality of life for many people living with this disease. However, without access to early intervention health care and treatment, these advances remain out of reach for thousands of non-disabled, low-income people living with HIV.

By preserving the health of people living with HIV, preventing opportunistic infections, and slowing the progression to AIDS, ETHA could ultimately save taxpayer dollars. Most importantly, if ETHA can garner the bipartisan support needed to become law, the United States will take an important step towards ensuring that all people living with HIV can get the medical care they need to stay healthy for as long as possible.

To endorse the Early Treatment For HIV Act, please email tan@projectinform.org with the name of the endorsing organization, a contact person and email address or phone number. Please respond by Friday, January 3, 2003.

For more information about ETHA, please call Robert Greenwald, TAEP Project Director, at 617-390-2584 or email rgreenwald@taepusa.org.

The Treatment Access Expansion Project (TAEP) is a collaborative project of the HIV/AIDS community, health care providers and the pharmaceutical industry, including:

National Association of People With AIDS
National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors
Title II Community AIDS National Network
HIV Medicine Association
Project Inform
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Hoffmann-La Roche
Abbott Laboratories
GlaxoSmithKline