[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 229 (Friday, November 28, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 63356-63357]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-31211]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


HIV Care Grant Program

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration.

ACTION: Notice of grants made to States and territories.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) 
announces that fiscal year 1997 funds have been awarded to States and 
territories (hereinafter States) for the HIV Care Grant Program. 
Although these funds have already been awarded to the States, HRSA is 
publishing this notice to inform the general public of the existence of 
the funds. In addition, HRSA determined that it would be useful for the 
general public to be aware of the structure of the HIV Care Grant 
Program and the statutory requirements governing the use of the funds.
    Funds will be used by the States to improve the quality, 
availability, and organization of health care and support services for 
individuals and families with HIV disease. The HIV Care Grant Program 
is authorized by Title II of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS 
Resources Emergency (CARE) Act of 1990, Public Law 101-381, as amended 
by the Ryan White CARE Act amendments of 1996, Public Law 104-146, 
which amended Title XXVI of the Public Health Service Act. Funds were 
appropriated under Public Law 104-208.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Individuals interested in the HIV Care 
Grant Program should contact the appropriate office in their State, and 
may obtain information on their State contact by calling Anita Eichler, 
M.P.H., Director, Division of Service Systems, at (301) 443-6745.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Availability of Funds

    A total of $230,895,000 was made available for the Title II HIV 
Care Grant Program. These funds have been allotted to the States 
according to a formula that is determined by multiplying the amount 
appropriated for Title II, less any set-asides, by the distribution 
factor determined for the State. In addition to the Care Grants, 
$167,000,000 was also awarded for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program 
(ADAP) to help States increase the number of HIV patients receiving 
drugs, including combination therapies and new drugs, and to help pay 
for their increasing costs. Below are two tables. The first shows the 
distribution of funds for the Care Grant Program by State. The second 
shows the distribution of funds for the ADAP by State.

                            Care Grant Awards                           
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                          State                               Amount    
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.................................................      $2,838,265
Alaska..................................................         250,000
Arizona.................................................       2,045,462
Arkansas................................................       1,395,995
California..............................................      31,548,137
Colorado................................................       2,127,037
Connecticut.............................................       3,330,036
Delaware................................................       1,322,724
District of Columbia....................................       2,877,431
Florida.................................................      23,416,364
Georgia.................................................       7,214,630
Hawaii..................................................       1,158,830
Idaho...................................................         250,000
Illinois................................................       6,606,747
Indiana.................................................       2,928,889
Iowa....................................................         624,726
Kansas..................................................         997,168
Kentucky................................................       1,415,277
Louisiana...............................................       4,252,105
Maine...................................................         489,755
Maryland................................................       5,923,285
Massachusetts...........................................       4,217,542
Michigan................................................       3,405,961
Minnesota...............................................       1,037,082
Mississippi.............................................       1,879,965
Missouri................................................       2,620,796
Montana.................................................         136,900
Nebraska................................................         499,395
Nevada..................................................       2,043,859
New Hampshire...........................................         314,204
New Jersey..............................................      11,931,930
New Mexico..............................................         805,975
New York................................................      34,972,364
North Carolina..........................................       4,803,070
North Dakota............................................         100,000
Ohio....................................................       4,739,289
Oklahoma................................................       1,554,105
Oregon..................................................       1,601,172
Pennsylvania............................................       7,686,648
Rhode Island............................................       1,054,708
South Carolina..........................................       4,509,988
South Dakota............................................         100,000
Tennessee...............................................       3,906,471
Texas...................................................      14,636,207
Utah....................................................         852,251
Vermont.................................................         250,000
Virginia................................................       5,235,047
Washington..............................................       2,830,277
West Virginia...........................................         492,843
Wisconsin...............................................       1,755,689
Wyoming.................................................         100,000
Guam....................................................          11,608
Puerto Rico.............................................       7,605,266
Virgin Islands..........................................         191,525
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                   AIDS Drug Assistance Program Awards                  
                 [State/Territory--FY 1997 Grant Award]                 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                        
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama                                                       $1,329,706
Alaska..................................................         112,917
Arizona.................................................       1,450,752
Arkansas................................................         654,013
California..............................................      26,371,892
Colorado................................................       1,607,932
Connecticut.............................................       2,790,394
Delaware................................................         619,686
District of Columbia....................................       2,613,341
Florida.................................................      17,898,632
Georgia.................................................       5,125,509
Hawaii..................................................         542,903
Idaho...................................................         112,917
Illinois................................................       5,427,222
Indiana.................................................       1,372,162
Iowa....................................................         292,680
Kansas..................................................         568,196
Kentucky................................................         663,046
Louisiana...............................................       2,717,224
Maine...................................................         229,446
Maryland................................................       5,025,239
Massachusetts...........................................       3,310,714
Michigan................................................       2,408,285
Minnesota...............................................         841,003
Mississippi.............................................         880,749
Missouri................................................       1,965,652
Montana.................................................          64,137
Nebraska................................................         233,963
Nevada..................................................         975,533
New Hampshire...........................................         214,993
New Jersey..............................................       9,448,859
New Mexico..............................................         377,593
New York................................................      29,381,796
North Carolina..........................................       2,250,201
North Dakota............................................          24,390
Ohio....................................................       2,577,208
Oklahoma................................................         728,086
Oregon..................................................       1,148,136
Pennsylvania............................................       5,258,299
Rhode Island............................................         494,123
South Carolina..........................................       2,112,895
South Dakota............................................          38,843
Tennessee...............................................       1,830,152
Texas...................................................      11,061,308
Utah....................................................         399,273
Vermont.................................................          92,140
Virginia................................................       2,881,631
Washington..............................................       2,067,728
West Virginia...........................................         247,513
Wisconsin...............................................         823,839
Wyoming.................................................          37,940
Guam....................................................             N/A
Puerto Rico.............................................       5,315,209
Virgin Islands..........................................             N/A
                                                         ---------------
    Total...............................................    $167,000,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


[[Page 63357]]

Eligibility Criteria

    In order to receive funding under Title II of the CARE Act, each 
State was required to develop:
     A detailed description of the HIV-related services 
provided in the State to individuals and families with HIV disease 
during the year preceding the year for which the grant was requested, 
and the number of individuals and families receiving such services; and
     A comprehensive plan for the organization and delivery of 
HIV health care and support services to be funded with the Title II 
grant, including a description of the purposes for which the State 
intends to use such assistance.
    Each State was also required to submit an application containing 
such agreements, assurances, and information as the Secretary 
determined to be necessary to carry out this program, including an 
assurance that:
     The public health agency that is administering the grant 
for the State will conduct public hearings concerning the proposed use 
and distribution of the Title II grant assistance;
     The State will, to the maximum extent practicable, ensure 
that HIV-related health care and support services delivered with Title 
II assistance will be provided without regard to the ability of the 
individual to pay or the current or past health condition of the 
individual; ensure that such services will be provided in a setting 
that is accessible to low-income individuals with HIV disease, and 
provide outreach to inform such individuals of the services available; 
and, in the case of a State that intends to use grant funds for the 
continuation of health insurance coverage, ensure that the State has 
established a program that assures that such amounts will be targeted 
to individuals who would not otherwise be able to afford health 
insurance coverage, that income, assets, and medical expense criteria 
will be established and applied by the State to identify those 
individuals who qualify for assistance, and that information concerning 
such criteria will be made available to the public;
     The State will provide for periodic independent peer 
review to assess the quality and appropriateness of health and support 
services provided by entities that receive Title II funds from the 
State;
     The State will permit and cooperate with any Federal 
investigations undertaken regarding programs conducted under Title II;
     The State will maintain HIV-related activities at a level 
that is equal to not less than the level of such expenditures by the 
State for the 1-year period preceding the fiscal year for which the 
State applied to receive a grant under Title II; and
     The State will ensure that grant funds are not utilized to 
make payments for any item or service to the extent that payment has 
been made, or can reasonably be expected to be made, with respect to 
that item or service (1) under any State compensation program, under an 
insurance policy, or under any Federal or State health benefits 
program, or (2) by an entity that provides health services on a prepaid 
basis.

General Use of Grant Funds

    States may use the HIV Care Grant funds to:
     Deliver or enhance HIV-related outpatient and ambulatory 
health and support services, including case management, substance abuse 
treatment and mental health treatment, and comprehensive treatment 
services, which include treatment education and prophylactic treatment 
for opportunistic infections, for individuals and families with HIV 
disease.
     Deliver or enhance HIV-related inpatient case management 
services that prevent unnecessary hospitalization or that expedite 
discharge, as medically appropriate, from inpatient facilities.
     Establish and operate HIV care consortia within areas most 
affected by HIV. The statute defines a consortium as an association of 
one or more public, and one or more nonprofit private (or private for-
profit providers or organizations if such entities are the only 
available providers of quality HIV care in the area) health care and 
support service providers and community-based organizations operating 
within areas determined by the State to be most affected by HIV 
disease.
     Provide home- and community-based care services for 
individuals with HIV disease. Funding priorities must be given to 
entities that provide assurances to the State that they will 
participate in HIV care consortia if such consortia exist within the 
State, and will utilize the funds for the provision of home- and 
community-based services to low-income individuals with HIV disease.
     Provide assistance to assure health insurance coverage for 
low-income individuals with HIV disease.
     Provide therapeutics to treat HIV disease or prevent the 
serious deterioration of health arising from HIV disease in eligible 
individuals, including measures for the prevention and treatment of 
opportunistic infections.
    A State must use not less than the percentage of its grant funds 
constituted by the ratio of the population in the State of infants, 
children, and women with AIDS to the general population in the State of 
individuals with AIDS to provide health and support services to 
infants, children, and women with such syndrome.
    A State must take administrative or legislative action to require 
that a good faith effort be made to notify a spouse of a known HIV-
infected patient that such spouse may have been exposed to HIV and 
should seek testing.
    At least 75 percent of the fiscal year 1997 Title II grant awarded 
to a State must be obligated to specific programs and projects and made 
available for expenditure not later than 150 days after receipt of such 
amounts in the case of a the first fiscal year for which amounts are 
received, and within 120 days of the receipt of the grant by the State 
in succeeding fiscal years.

Federal Smoke-Free Compliance

    The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant and 
contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the 
non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the 
Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or 
in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine 
education, library, day care, health care or early childhood 
development services are provided to children.

Executive Order 12372

    It has been determined that the Title II HIV Care Grant Program is 
not subject to the provisions of Executive Order 12372 concerning 
inter-governmental review of Federal programs.

    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Number is 93.917.

    Dated: November 21, 1997.
Claude Earl Fox,
Acting Administrator.
[FR Doc. 97-31211 Filed 11-26-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-15-U