According to The AIDS Institute, the Obama administration is limiting how much AIDS Drug Assistance Program money states can receive from new recently approved federal funding to $3 million.
A press release issued by the Institute states:
In a shocking move by the Obama Administration, the State of Florida will likely be forced to stop providing AIDS medications to low income people who are currently taking life saving drugs due to limits on how much one state can receive from new federal funding.
āDespite having over 3,550 people on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) waiting list, because of this decision, the people of Florida will see little benefit from the $50 million increase in federal funding for the national ADAP program,ā commented Michael Ruppal, Executive Director of The AIDS Institute. Forty percent of the people on the national ADAP waiting list live in Florida and the people of Florida and its congressional delegation fought hard for the federal ADAP funding increases.
Rupal adds in the release,ā We canāt imagine the Obama Administration, which has touted the benefits of AIDS treatment, would punish hundreds of AIDS patients in Florida by not even continuing the $6.9 million needed so they can continue to take their medications. We ask that they reconsider this decision and provide Florida with a greater share of the available funding.ā
AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, a nationwide payer of last resort for people who cannot afford theirĀ HIV/AIDS medications, has been in aĀ funding crisis since 2010, which prompted many states, including Florida, to implement cost-containment measures such as waiting lists.
Since April, Florida ā which has theĀ longest Drug Assistance Program waiting list in the U.S. ā has been consideringĀ changing its income eligibility requirements from 400 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent.
