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AHF Expresses Disappointment at Senate Failure to Re-Authorize AIDS Care Funding Bill

Posted on: Saturday, 30 September 2006, 21:00 CDT

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation's largest provider of HIV/AIDS medical care serving thousands of patients at 14 healthcare centers in California and Florida, expressed its disappointment at the U.S. Senate's failure to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act (RWCA, or the CARE Act), the federal law that provides the principle source of funding for AIDS care and services nationwide. Reauthorization of the CARE Act, which was set to expire at midnight Saturday, was short- circuited by a hold placed on the bill by both Senators from New York (Clinton & Schumer) and New Jersey (Lautenberg and Menendez), all Democrats. For the first time since its introduction in 1990, the CARE Act would have prioritized funding for "core medical services," including a provision in the bill which would have required that 75% of the funds be directed toward such core medical services. The bill would have also promoted a more equitable distribution of federal AIDS funds across the country while also seeking to reduce bureaucracy.

"We are saddened at the failure of the Senate to be able to move forward on this crucial bill which provides funding for lifesaving AIDS care and services nationwide," said Michael Weinstein, AHF's President. "And while we are grateful to those Senators and Representatives who have shown leadership in trying to steer this lifesaving federal legislation through to passage, we are disappointed that their efforts fell short, and that funding will not be targeted to where the needs are greatest. Today, HIV/AIDS can be a chronic, but treatable medical condition. In light of the CDC's new guidelines recommending routine HIV testing in health care settings for those ages 13-64, this legislation would have also helped bring more people into treatment, as the bill prioritizes medical care over bureaucracy. Sadly, the delay in the reauthorization process of the CARE Act, be it for another year or just another few months, hampers an opportunity to slow the chain of new infections by reducing our ability to immediately start identifying previously undiagnosed HIV positive individuals and get them into treatment."

Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) announced that for the first time, more than one million Americans were living with HIV. Almost half of those infected are not consistently accessing care and treatment, and more than one quarter of the million nationwide are unaware they are infected with HIV. AHF supports the CDC's recent recommendation to move toward routine HIV testing, and was glad that provisions were made in the proposed reauthorized CARE Act to support the routine offering of HIV testing in an effort to de-stigmatize the disease and bring more people into treatment.

"AHF has long been in favor of modernizing the Ryan White CARE Act to reflect the reality of HIV in America today," said Tom Myers, AHF's General Counsel, in remarks at a press conference hosted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington Friday afternoon as the bill was being debated on the Senate floor. "Over one million Americans have HIV, yet less than half receive treatment, and over 250,000 people don't even know they have HIV. More distressing, after all the money and hard work that has been into HIV in the 25 years since the first cases were reported, the number of people with HIV in America continues to increase. This bill would have taken great steps toward reversing those numbers. The bill also directed additional attention on prevention and testing. Defeating AIDS in America is straightforward: if all people who have HIV know their status, and if we can provide care and treatment for all those with HIV, we will break the cycle of infection and the number of Americans with HIV will begin to decline."

The CARE Act was first introduced in 1990 and is reauthorized every five years. The bill was set for its most recent reauthorization in September 2005, but Congress had yet to act on it. Because the Senate did not act on the bill, future federal funding for AIDS care and services nationwide could be disrupted after hitting this legislative wall, as the Director of Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA) will be required to direct such funding using a names-based reporting formula for HIV incidence starting October 1st. The next funding cycle for the Ryan White CARE Act will begin in March 2007.

Media Availability: Saturday Sept 30th -- Ryan White CARE Act Re-Auth Michael Weinstein, AIDS Healthcare Foundation President (323) 810-1238 mobile

AIDS Healthcare Foundation

CONTACT: Ged Kenslea, AHF Communications Director, +1-323-860-5225,mobile +1-323-791-5526, or Lori Yeghiayan, AHF Associate Director ofCommunications, +1-323-860-5227, or mobile +1-323-377-4312, both of AIDSHealthcare Foundation

Source: PRNewswire

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