HRSA OUT OF LINE IN FLORIDA.
They want to reduce eligibility requirements…why not? These are people without a lobbyist in Congress and we actually need all that money to be turned over to the very wealthy in the form of tax cuts and the corporations as subsidies.
HIV people are a drag on our society according to them; as are seniors, the unemployed and those in the prison system…wait, no not them…if prisons are run by private companies then there is profit, so let’s incarcerate more people…those who run our jails need the profits.
AHF Slams Feds for Pressing Florida to Cut Eligibility for Lifesaving AIDS Drug Program
Officials from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), ‘…the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable…,” are reported to be pressuring Florida health officials to reduce eligibility for the state’s beleaguered AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)
Florida—with the third highest AIDS caseload in the nation—currently has 3,520 AIDS patients on its ADAP waiting list to access HIV/AIDS drugs (out of a total of 8,111 patients on waiting lists in 13 states); state’s growing waiting list may be perceived as a black eye for the Feds, who might fear continuing to look unresponsive to a growing national crisis on AIDS drug access for vulnerable Americans
FT LAUDERDALE (June 9, 2011)—AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) officials today blasted federal officials from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), who are reported to be pressuring Florida state health officials to reduce eligibility for the state’s beleaguered AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), one in the nationwide network of federally-funded, state run programs that pays for lifesaving AIDS drugs for low-income Americans. As of June 2nd, there were 3,520 Floridians on the state’s ADAP waiting list out of a total of 8,111 people in 13 states on ADAP waiting lists.
In April and May of this year, Florida health officials hosted a series of town hall meetings throughout the state to get community input on proposed changes to a state rule that would drastically reduce eligibility for Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), AIDS Insurance Continuation Program (AICP), Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA), and possibly other Ryan White funded programs and services. Florida’s proposed changes (to Florida State Department of Health Rule 64D-4, which governs delivery of such care and services)—which were met with widespread and vehement opposition during the public town hall meetings—would have reduced the eligibility threshold for many of the state’s lifesaving AIDS programs from the current maximum income eligibility requirement of 400% of Federal Poverty Level (FPL), or income of approximately $43,000, down to 200% of FPL (approx. $21K)—a move that would cut thousands of vulnerable Floridians off from lifesaving HIV/AIDS care and services. Since the last town hall meeting in early May, Florida officials have taken no further action on the possible rule change.
“We have heard directly that HRSA officials are pressuring Florida state officials to reduce the eligibility threshold for ADAP and other lifesaving programs for HIV/AIDS patients in Florida, and we strongly advise Florida officials to resist, push back and seek alternatives to such a drastic measure,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, who has been traveling in Florida on business this week. “According to its own website, HRSA is, ‘…the primary Federal agency for improving access to health care services for people who are uninsured, isolated, or medically vulnerable.’ Getting people with AIDS entirely out of the queue for lifesaving treatment by reducing their eligibility for these programs outright is not the answer, and it should not even be an acceptable alternative proposed by HRSA. We strongly encourage HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Obama Administration to seek and appropriate additional funds for these lifeline programs. Simply cutting the wait list numbers by cutting program eligibility entirely does nothing to address the problem. Waiting lists, at least, are a temporary problem; reducing eligibility is permanent—and potentially deadly. However, these ADAP waiting lists—and Florida’s in particular, as the largest—may be perceived as a black eye by the Feds, who might fear continuing to look unresponsive to the growing national crisis on AIDS drug access for vulnerable Americans.”
While Florida’s proposed rule changes might appear to initially save the state some money in the short term, it ultimately would lead to far higher medical costs to the state as those disenfranchised AIDS patients became ill and sought emergency care at hospitals around the state—something far more costly and far less clinically appropriate
The 2011 Federal Poverty Level income for a single individual living in one of the 48 contiguous states or the District of Columbia is $10,890. 200% of the 2011 FPL would be an income of just $21,780; 300%—$32,670; 400% of FPL—the current eligibility threshold in Florida—is $43,920.
Florida’s proposed changes to Rule 64D-4 could have detrimental effects on eligibility for these programs:
- ADAP (AIDS Drug Assistance Program)
- AICP (AIDS Insurance Continuation Program)
- HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS)
- Co-Pay Assistance
Nationwide, ADAPs serve over 165,000 people, accounting for one third of people on AIDS treatment in the U.S. Unfortunately, the need for these programs expands every year, as more and more people become infected and diagnosed with HIV/AIDS; each year thousands of newly diagnosed HIV patients turn to ADAPs because they cannot afford their medicines.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation <http://www.aidshealth.org> (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, currently provides medical care and services to more than 163,000 individuals in 26 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific region and Eastern Europe. www.aidshealth.org <http://www.aidshealth.org/>
In FLORIDA, AHF serves more than 15,000 Floridians living with HIV/AIDS through a variety of programs, including free HIV testing and prevention programs; HIV/AIDS health care centers located in Ft. Lauderdale, Miami and Jacksonville, eight AHF Pharmacies located throughout the state.
