North Carolina Increases Income Qualification Level for ADAP, Expects To Add 800 HIV-Positive People to Program

North Carolina on Wednesday increased income eligibility limits for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program, allowing approximately 800 more people to qualify for the program, the Raleigh News & Observer reports (Fisher, Raleigh News & Observer, 11/1). ADAPs are federal- and state-funded programs that provide HIV/AIDS-related medications to low-income, uninsured and underinsured HIV-positive individuals (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/17). The new eligibility requirements increase from $12,250 to $19,600 the annual incomes individuals can have to qualify for the program. Officials used new funds allocated by the General Assembly and savings from a mail-order prescription program to implement the changes, according to the News & Observer. North Carolina's ADAP currently provides HIV/AIDS-related drugs at no cost to about 2,200 people. John Coburn -- a staff attorney with Health and Disability Advocates, a group that represents people living with HIV/AIDS and other conditions -- said several HIV-positive people in North Carolina were considering moving to states with better ADAP benefits, adding that now they "can stay in their homes." Evelyn Foust, head of HIV/STD Prevention and Care for the state Department of Public Health, said she has joined with other officials in mostly rural, Southern states to push for more federal funds for state ADAPs (Raleigh News & Observer, 11/1).