Delay in CARE Act Reauthorization ‘Playing Havoc’ With HIV/AIDS Funding, Could Affect Care in Maryland, Editorial Says
The delay in reauthorizing the Ryan White CARE Act -- which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the U.S. -- is "playing havoc with AIDS funding for 10 states that have yet to convert to a new system" of reporting HIV/AIDS cases by name and could "seriously impair the care of thousands of AIDS patients in Maryland," a Baltimore Sun editorial says (Baltimore Sun, 11/2). Legislation that reauthorized the CARE Act in 2000 gave states six years to begin reporting people who are HIV-positive by name, not numerical code, as Maryland currently does (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 11/1). If the reautorization of the CARE Act -- which contains an extension of the "grace period" for switching to name-based reporting -- is not approved, "about $10 million to $15 million in AIDS funding for the Baltimore area would be lost," according to the editorial. "Maryland's senators should be looking for a way to press their colleagues to at least enact into law the reporting grace period," the editorial says, adding, "Barring that, the next governor should be prepared to cover some of the shortfall until a compromise" is reached (Baltimore Sun, 11/2).
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