Plan to save AIDS Drug Assistance Program in county
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Seattle Gay News
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posted Friday, June 25, 2010 - Volume 38 Issue 26 Plan to save AIDS Drug Assistance Program in countyby Mike Andrew - SGN Staff Writer King County's HIV/AIDS Planning Council announced plans for deep cuts in many services for people living with HIV/AIDS in order to save core programs like the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The Council made the results of its June 14 planning meeting public on June 23. The Council was created by King County Executive Tim Hill in 1992 in response to the requirements of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Emergency Resource Act. It advises Seattle-King County Public Health on how to spend Ryan White Act, Part A funds. This year's plan distributes anticipated funding of $5.8 million for 2011-2012, but the expected funding falls far short of expected need. According to Planning Council Administrator Jesse Chipps, the Council faced hard choices to fund as many of its core programs as possible. "The Council had to make some b-i-i-i-g cuts," Chipps said. "Oral health, for example - that's a core service." Oral health care took a 24% cut in its funding. According to Chipps, the June 14 Council meeting was emotional. "People were well-behaved and civil and stuff, but there were a few tears." In the end, the Council opted to focus on saving two essential programs - ADAP and Health Insurance - and cut funding in all other areas. Some $544,025 was cut from other programs to support ADAP and the insurance program. ADAP was another consequence of the Ryan White Act. Created in 1987, it helps low-income people with HIV/AIDS pay for life-saving medications. ADAP funding will be increased $237,603 for 2011-2012. In 11 states, ADAP programs have literally run out of money, and officials have been forced to introduce waiting lists for patients who otherwise would have received AIDS medication prescribed by their doctors. Attempts to pass emergency supplemental ADAP funding have stalled in Congress, but that has not affected King County's program, Chipps says. "In our state ADAP is funded by the feds, but we actually get more from state funding. That amount has remained level or actually decreased. That's where we took the hit," Chipps explained. The health insurance program, which is also slated for a budget increase, helps eligible people with HIV/AIDS to buy insurance. "Paying for Insurance for consumers is a) less expensive than covering their HIV-related costs through ADAP and b) offers consumers a wider range of services," the Council's report notes. An additional $194,688 will be allocated to the insurance program in 2011-2012. Some available funds were also transferred from one budget item to others, in an attempt to make up funding for the most essential programs. Minority AIDS Initiative funds were moved into the health insurance program from the case management and ADAP categories, and additional base funds were moved into those categories to compensate. One program - Psychosocial Support - was de-funded altogether. According to the Council's report, "There was significant under-performance by the vendor of this service," and "The vendor of this service did not meet either of its benchmarks." Chipps told SGN that psychological support was not a high-priority program. "The Council tries to focus on core services - docs, drugs, case management. We prioritize our services according to the priorities of the people we're serving." "We do a needs assessment every other year as we do the budget," Chipps explained. "This time we looked at surveys of 10% of the people with HIV - and that's heavily weighted toward people who are Ryan White eligible. We also ask questions of providers who may see people who won't fill out the surveys. And we do focus groups. So it's a really representative sample." The findings help the Council allocate available funds by identifying which programs or services clients find especially helpful. |
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