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About 350 uninsured HIV/AIDS patients will be dropped from Florida's AIDS Drug Assistance Program in a month in a cost-cutting move by state health officials. Another 2,000 ADAP patients are at risk of losing treatment coverage unless more funding can be tapped for the program, Florida Department of Health (DOH) officials said Tuesday. The $100 million-a-year program is $16 million short of the funds it needs through April 1, 2011. ADAP previously covered patients making up to four times the federal poverty level. That will drop to only three times the poverty level, or $43,710 for a family of two, making about 350 current clients ineligible, officials said.
Many will be eligible for low- or no-cost treatment through HIV drugmakers' charity programs, said Tom Liberti, chief of the state Bureau of HIV/AIDS. The state has helped many of the more than 2,300 patients who are on Florida's ADAP waiting list access treatment through these programs.
Loss of jobs and job-related health insurance has boosted ADAP demand, and clients are living longer because of effective treatments.
"We are all pursuing every possible legal and financial option we can to make up the deficit," said Liberti, noting that he is asking DOH for emergency funds and for federal clearance to allow Florida to negotiate lower drug prices. If neither happens, "a minimum of 2,000 people, maybe more" could be temporarily dropped from ADAP, Liberti said.
Next year, the state expects more ADAP funding through different sources, Liberti said. States with ADAP waiting lists could receive $50 million in a budget bill that will come before Congress after the Tuesday elections, a federal health official said.
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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