Nine State ADAPs Have Waiting Lists; Eight States Anticipate New, Additional Access Restrictions, NASTAD says
Sixteen state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs either have implemented waiting lists or are considering other cost-containment measures, according to the latest ADAP Watch released on Wednesday by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors (ADAP Watch, 8/10). ADAPs are federal- and state-funded programs that provide HIV/AIDS-related medications to low-income, uninsured and underinsured HIV-positive individuals. In June 2004, President Bush announced $20 million in one-time funding outside of ADAP. The funding helped provide medications directly to HIV-positive people living in the 10 states that had waiting lists at that time (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/10). As of July 18, 1,922 HIV-positive individuals were on ADAP waiting lists in nine states, but 1,487 of those patients are covered under the additional funding. However, the funding is scheduled to expire in September 2005. The remaining 435 individuals on waiting lists from ADAPs are not covered under the president's ADAP initiative (NASTAD release, 8/10). The nine states that currently have waiting lists include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina and West Virginia. Twelve states -- Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Utah -- have implemented other cost-containment strategies. In addition, eight states -- Alaska, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Hampshire, Oregon and Tennessee -- anticipate the need to implement new or additional cost-containment measures during the 2005 ADAP fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2006 (ADAP Watch, 8/10). "Now that states have been notified of the initiative's discontinuation, they are scrambling to identify viable strategies to ensure continuous access to treatment for these clients," NASTAD Executive Director Julie Scofield said, adding, "Without additional funding, states will not be able to incorporate these new patients into their ADAPs and hundreds of people may face losing their medications" (NASTAD release, 8/10).
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