More HIV Patients Lose State Support in Ohio

The Ohio Department of Health is finalizing details of a plan that will tie eligibility for the state AIDS Drug Assistance Plan to a patient's CD4 cell count. The DOH plan is a response to a projected ADAP deficit stemming largely from increased demand for help, state officials said.

The plan would limit ADAP enrollment either to patients with CD4 counts of 500 cells/mm3 and below, or to those whose counts have dropped below 200 cells/mm3 at any point, said Jay Carey, a management analyst for the Ryan White program, which is administered by the Ohio Department of Health (DOH). Carey expects the change will occur next month, after which an additional 500 clients would be cut from ADAP.

Earlier this month, 250 clients were dropped from ADAP after the state restricted eligibility to those earning 300 percent of the federal poverty level or less - about $32,000 for a single person. Previously, the bar had been at 500 percent. DOH also implemented a waiting list and stopped paying for non-emergency dental care and prescriptions not directly related to HIV/AIDS.

In addition, the state will place spending caps in its next contract with CVS, the drug store chain that provides the ADAP drugs, said Jen House, a DOH spokesperson.

ADAP was anticipating a deficit of $3.9 million three months into the fiscal year and $16.4 million by next spring. Ohio now has 19 patients on the ADAP waiting list, and 30 more have applied.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that more cuts down the road are not a possibility," Carey said. That may depend in part on any federal assistance to Ohio's ADAP in the next month, he added. Case workers have been scrambling to provide alternative sources of assistance.

Nationally, 2,158 people with HIV/AIDS were on state ADAP waiting lists as of July 22, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The average cost of HIV drugs per ADAP client is about $12,000, and it is much higher for those outside of ADAP, said Ann Lefert, NASTAD's associate director of government relations.

The Friends of AIDS Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for HIV positive individuals and empowering people to make healthy choices to prevent the spread of the HIV virus. To learn more about The Friends of AIDS Foundation, please visit: http://www.friendsofaids.org.


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