Tuesday
Jun152010
Washington Gridlock Yielding Increased State Waiting Lists For AIDS Patients
As the Senate prepares to vote on a $126 billion tax extenders bill this week, a $126 million measure that would provide emergency funding to an AIDS program for states is not even on the chamber's agenda.
The bill, introduced nearly three weeks ago by Republican Senators Richard Burr (N.C.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.), would use unobligated Recovery Act (ARRA) dollars to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a federal program that allows states to distribute FDA-approved HIV treatment drugs to low income patients across the country.
With waiting lists for patients mounting in several states, the program needs an infusion of cash to keep going. In the past two weeks alone, the number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists has grown by 288, an increase of almost 25%. However, Congress can't move forward until a companion bill to Burr-Coburn is drafted in the House. There, any proposal would likely face opposition by Republicans reluctant to touch stimulus dollars and Democrats happy to exploit the GOP for prioritizing politics over the health and well-being of over 1,000 people in need.
Without funding, waiting lists are certain to increase greatly in the coming weeks. The current total number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists, 1,431, doesn't even take into account the state of Florida, which has yet to report its current figure, but normally enrolls and services around 15,000 people each year. It is believed that without legislation between 250 and 300 people will end up on Florida's ADAP waiting list by the end of this month. Already, over 600 people are on wait lists in North Carolina. AIDS advocates fear that continued delay in Washington will yield harmful results, such as states having to either close their programs or institute enrollment caps.
“For the better part of one year, we’ve witnessed ADAP waiting lists – and other cost containment measures – spread like wildfire across the United States and the time to end the wait is upon us,” said Brandon Macsata, CEO of the ADAP Advocacy Association.
The bill, introduced nearly three weeks ago by Republican Senators Richard Burr (N.C.) and Tom Coburn (Okla.), would use unobligated Recovery Act (ARRA) dollars to fund the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), a federal program that allows states to distribute FDA-approved HIV treatment drugs to low income patients across the country.
With waiting lists for patients mounting in several states, the program needs an infusion of cash to keep going. In the past two weeks alone, the number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists has grown by 288, an increase of almost 25%. However, Congress can't move forward until a companion bill to Burr-Coburn is drafted in the House. There, any proposal would likely face opposition by Republicans reluctant to touch stimulus dollars and Democrats happy to exploit the GOP for prioritizing politics over the health and well-being of over 1,000 people in need.
Without funding, waiting lists are certain to increase greatly in the coming weeks. The current total number of Americans on ADAP waiting lists, 1,431, doesn't even take into account the state of Florida, which has yet to report its current figure, but normally enrolls and services around 15,000 people each year. It is believed that without legislation between 250 and 300 people will end up on Florida's ADAP waiting list by the end of this month. Already, over 600 people are on wait lists in North Carolina. AIDS advocates fear that continued delay in Washington will yield harmful results, such as states having to either close their programs or institute enrollment caps.
“For the better part of one year, we’ve witnessed ADAP waiting lists – and other cost containment measures – spread like wildfire across the United States and the time to end the wait is upon us,” said Brandon Macsata, CEO of the ADAP Advocacy Association.
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geoff holtzman in Congress, News/Commentary
geoff holtzman in Congress, News/Commentary
Reader Comments (1)
Like the oil spill in the gulf, the ADAP waiting list grows worse day by day while Obama Administration does nothing effective to solve the underlying problem. Waiting for Pelosi to act is like waiting for Godet--nothing ever happens. Yet the waiting lists could be easily solved, what is lacking is the will to apply
appropriate resources. Pelosi and the Admin. should either support the Burr-Coburn bill or come up
with their own equivalent. Doing nothing while people with AIDS but without treatment get sicker and
die is morally unacceptable and inhuman. Why has it been tolerated so long? Where have all the
AIDS activists gone?