[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 105 (Wednesday, September 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1548]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          LACK OF FUNDING FOR THE AIDS DRUG ASSISTANCE PROGRAM

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                        HON. MAURICE D. HINCHEY

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, September 8, 2004

  Mr. HINCHEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention to an 
emerging health problem. People living with HIV/AIDS are not able to 
afford the cost of the medications that improve their health and extend 
their lives. People who have traditionally been able to rely on the 
AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) under Title II of the Ryan White 
Care Act are not able to get the help that they need because we 
continue to underfund the program.
  In my home state and many others, the number of clients served by 
ADAP is on the rise. If enrollment continues to increase at the current 
rate in New York, we will soon need to implement waiting lists as 11 
other states have already been forced to do.
  In the 2004 fiscal year, New York has a federal shortfall in ADAP 
funding in the tens of millions of dollars. New York bears about 20% of 
the national HIV/AIDS epidemic impact, as it has for over two decades. 
Yet this number extends far beyond just money; it equates to people, 
specifically, 3,137 people in New York who are HIV positive, with gross 
incomes of less than $44,000 a year, who cannot afford their AIDS 
drugs, which can cost as much as $1,000.00 a month, or more. These 
3,137 people are obviously in need of ADAP, but are not receiving 
assistance. According to the federal poverty statistics, these people 
are impoverished, but they remain unserved by New York's ADAP.
  Today we have more people living with HIV/AIDS as opposed to dying 
from HIV/AIDS than ever before. AIDS-related deaths have declined 
drastically since 1996, which can be attributed to the success of HIV/
AIDS treatment regiments and ADAP. We can't continue to allow Americans 
to die of HIV/AIDS when we know how to save their lives.
  Yet, as I stand here today, we are allowing Americans to die who 
cannot afford their treatment regiments because we are not fully 
funding the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. We cannot allow Americans to 
die on waiting lists as they have in Kentucky and West Virginia.
  ADAP helps people like Annie Ball of New Hampshire, a former nurse 
who had become too sick to work due to her HIV status. Yet, because of 
a successful treatment regiment she was able to return to work. Annie 
relies on ADAP to afford the expensive prescriptions that have allowed 
her to become a productive member of society again. Yet, if the ADAP 
program is threatened, Annie will, in her words, ``devastate me, my 
family and my loved ones, and my community, as I will not be able to 
work and contribute my talents.''
  President Bush just allocated an additional $20 million to help in 
the relief of the ADAP crisis, however we need a total of $122 million 
just to clear all of the waiting lists for ADAP and preserve existing 
drug access in line with federal standards of HIV care. We need to 
increase funding above that level to deal with expected demand for new 
enrollment, and for existing patients in the coming 24 months. The true 
need for ADAP in Fiscal Year 2005 is $217 million; the committee fell 
far short of that mark in the bill we are considering today. I urge 
that the conference report on this bill fully fund the program so that 
no American who qualifies for ADAP will suffer needlessly.

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