According to an HIV/AIDS patient advocacy group, the Obama administration announced Monday its decision to not limit the level of emergency funding Florida can receive for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program to less than what it received last year.
Michael Rajner, legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus, tells The Florida Independent in a written statement that Sen. Bill Nelson, and Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Alcee Hastings will be speaking with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to discuss Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program crisis.
The number of people living with HIV/AIDS that are on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program waiting list has dropped slightly through the month of June.
That Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program has been in a funding crisis since 2010 is no secret, but how the state helped make that crisis possible has been largely ignored.
Waiting lists have continued to grow for programs that help supply life-saving drugs to HIV/AIDS patients who are uninsured and unable to afford their medications.
This month 8,100 people were on waiting lists for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs in 13 states, an increase of more than 2,500 since January. Nearly half of those patients live in Florida.
Responding to a federal report obtained by The Florida Independent that alleges that Florida has mismanaged funds for a program meant to supply HIV/AIDS medications to low-income citizens, Michael Rajner — legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus — says the state has downplayed how neglect has played an important part in its AIDS Drug Assistance Program’s ongoing funding crisis.
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