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VOICE OFT●II CANN
ADAP CRISIS
$82 Million Needed in “Emergency Supplemental
Appropriation” to Halt ADAP Deterioration
Continued on page 5
Late Breaking News.
Greater Advocacy Efforts Around
ETHA Urged
access Medicaid until they becomesick and disabled even though ear- Compelling Arguments
VOICEOFT●II CANN secure comprehensive health care
The Voice Editorial Board:
If you have anything of interest to share with the Title II community, please fax it to (202) 588-8868. Visit T•II CANN’s website
at www.tiicann.org.
Ryan White CARE Act Title II Community AIDS National Network (T•II CANN), 2002 The Voice newsletter is supported by generous grants from Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc., Merck & Co., Ortho Biotech, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Boerhinger Ingelheim. General activities of T•II CANN are supported by unrestricted educationgrants from Glaxo Smith Kline, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Pharmacia, Gilead Sciences, Continued on page 3
Continued from page 2
Surplus Medications
had a moral responsibility to makethe benefits of that research avail- Urgently Needed
urgently needed surplus medications.
If you have any questions pleasecontact them at (202) 518-0402 or www.aidseti.org.
The following is a reliable
drop-off location. We will publish
remarks to The Voice, she calledETHA “good health policy.” “It additional drop off locations in
the next issue of The Voice.
AID for AIDS
aid4aids@aol.com
ADAP Shortfalls Continue
contact AID for AIDS at
Assistance Programs (ADAPs) aswell. ADAPs provide medicationassistance to the uninsured andunderinsured, essentially filling inthe gaps for Medicaid, Medicare, T•II CANN Offers an
and other forms of private insur-ance, and thus playing an essential Alternate Health Coverage
role in the health care paradigm.
However, ADAPs are discretionary, Screening Tool
Screening T
not entitlement programs, and as aresult, they must balance patientdemand with available resources, AIDS Advocate and T•II CANN
Board Member Mourned
CANN will miss his energetic spirit.
work after an early diagnosis ofcerebral palsy, and remained active diagnosis. In 1999, POZ, a national Academy of HIV Medicine Offers
HIV Accreditation
HIV disease in this country, said R.
cialty, enhancing the level ofHIV/AIDS care in the country while Continued on page 5
Continued from page 4
I n B r i e f . . .
of identifying HIV specialists,” saidHitt. “Governor Davis broke Editor’s Note: Due to limited space in The Voice, the T•II CANN
Editorial Committee is often faced with the daunting task of deciding which important information to include in each issue. Since this information is often important to our readers, T•II CANN has created the “In Brief” column to provide this information in a summary for-mat and direct you to the source.
The academy's accreditation pro-cess relies on core curriculum • The new Medicare Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) benefit for diabetes and renal disease (pre-dialysis) went into effect on January 1. Although HIV/AIDS is not included as a covered condition at this time, it is expected that Medicare-covered per- sons living with HIV/AIDS who are diagnosed with diabetes or renal disease (pre-dialysis) will be eligible for the MNT benefit.
and Infectious Diseases. Academyofficials mail certification kits to There is a growing body of evidence that nutritional counseling and nutritional support may improve nutritional status in persons with HIV/AIDS. As of FY 2001, the “Grant Application Guidance package for Title I, II, and III of the Ryan White CARE Act” isusing a new definition for nutritional counseling. For the first time, nutritional counseling is listed under “Health Care Services” in the “Glossary,” and the licensed/registered dietitian is the des- ignated provider of these services. Nutritional Counseling provided by other than a licensed/registered dietitian is under “Counseling Other,” and food, meals, and nutritional supplements are part of the sub-category “Food and Home Delivered Meals/Nutritional Supplements” under “Support Services.” With this change in defi- nition, HRSA has made it clear that nutritional therapy is part ofprimary care.
For further information please call(310) 278-6380 or log on to For more information, contact the HIV/AIDS Dietetic Practice Group, www.hivaidsdpg.org or (202) 333-0945. ■ Continued from page 1
bers of Congress - both House andSenate - and must speak to the Continued on page 8
AIDS Advocacy — Get Involved Now!
With the current ADAP fundingshortfall and the upcoming pushto pass ETHA, it is crucial that allVoice readers become active advo-cates for the programs we all relyon. T•II CANN has drafted a letter (to the right) that readers mayadapt to include their personal I am writing to ask for your leadership in ensuring access to treatment and healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS. Specifically, I ask that you support a fiscal year 2002 emergency supplemental appropriation and highest possible funding for FY 2003 for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). In addition, I am asking you to support the Early Treatment For HIV Act (ETHA).
our plea to the government foremergency supplemental appropri- As you know, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, funded through Title II of the Ryan White CARE Act, provides treatments for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS with no or inadequate health insurance. It is considered a lifeline for many HIV-positive people who otherwise would not have access to therapies. Unfortunately, this program has been underfunded the past two years and is experiencing a fiscal crisis, causing inadequately insured individualswith HIV/AIDS. Also we strongly access restrictions in several states. An emergency supplemental appropriation of $82 million for the current fiscal year, and an $80 million increase in the FY 2003 budget is needed to ensure that all state ADAPs can meet the needs of those they serve.
Medicaid coverage to include unin-sured, low-income people living I am also urging your strong support for the Early Treatment for HIV Act (H.R. 2063 /S. 987). This legislation would give states the option to expand Medicaid coverage to include uninsured, low-income people living with HIV. This is a humane and cost- effective bill. It will increase quality of life for people living with HIV, while reducing the cost of emergency care, hospitalization, and treating opportunistic infections. It would also help alleviate the financial burden on HIV/AIDS care and treatment programs (including ADAP) that depend on discretionary spending.
of your local telephone book or bygoing to the websites: {Insert personal statement here. If you or someone you care about depends on ADAP or would benefit from ETHA, discuss that here} listings and http://www.house.gov/for the House of Representatives.
Letters to the president may be Finally, as you know, the response to the epidemic must be comprehensive and I urge you to support the highest possible funding for all HIV/AIDS programs. Please do everything in your power to ensure that this health crisis remains a priority.
Late Breaking News.
The White House Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy, ScottEvertz, has publicly stated that the Bush Administration is now defi- nitely supportive of the principles embodied in the ETHA legislation introduced in both Houses of Congress.
The Voice will have more details on this development in our next issue.
Ticket-to-Work Update
States Offering or Planning
Medicaid For Working Disabled
With Earnings Income Eligibility
Level of $44,000 Yearly or Higher
as of January 28, 2002
Medicaid buy-in at up to 300 per-cent poverty for all self-employedand their families. ■ Community News
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Recently, the ADAP Working Group released it’s annual pharmacoeco- nomic model forecasting a need for an increase of $162 million to cover FY 2002 shortfalls and FY 2003 funding under Title II of the Ryan quickly to EVERYONE who needsthem — regardless of personal “We knew that uninsured and underinsured, low income, HIV-positive Americans would be in trouble as a result of shortfalls in ADAP fund-ing in the FY ’01 and FY ’02 budgets. We have been expecting waiting lists and inability to treat patients. We didn’t expect to see quite this many stranded patients so quickly. When you forecast carefully, as we do, the numbers indicate that we need these additional funds to pro- vide treatment for 15,135 new patients — for a full 12 months of treat- ment, if needed - who are unable to access private or public insurance coverage adequate to meet their health care needs. That’s beyond the 80,000 patients now being treated each month via ADAP. Recent tele-phone survey data indicates that several hundred of these untreatedpatients are lined up already — waiting — and the FY ’02 inadequate CORRECTION
funding won’t even be released until April 1, 2002. This is not accept-able in America. Emergency funds for these people are needed today, not in 2003,” said Bill Arnold, long time chairman of the ADAP Working Group, a Washington based advocacy coalition.
the company name VisibleGenetics, the producer of the FDA presentation at the National ADAP Conference stated that VOICEOFT
●II CANN
Ryan White CARE Act Title II
Community AIDS National Network
1775 T Street, NW
Washington D.C. 20009-7124

Source: http://tiicann.org/pdf-docs/The_Voice_Mar-Apr-2002.pdf