POLITICS AND HIV/AIDS IN THE UNITED STATES

Last weekend, Congress passed the Ryan White Care Act Re-authorization Bill, which provides funding for HIV/AIDS programs in the United States. The bill was passed by a voice vote as a Compromise Measure. The initial bill was passed by the House earlier this year, and vetoed by Congress due to disagreement regarding the allocation of funds; President Bush praised the members of Congress for their bipartisan compromise regarding the bill.

The original bill, which was vetoed by Congress early in 2006, called for a decrease in federal funding to urban areas for HIV/AIDS care and an increase in funding to rural areas which were experiencing an increase in the numbers of HIV/AIDS patients. The Compromise Measure will maintain 95% of the funding levels of 2006 for urban areas in the coming year (although the urban areas were requesting a great increase in funds), and increase the funding to some rural areas in need. The funds for prescription drugs used to treat HIV/AIDS will be unchanged. The legislation also calls for reconsideration of the bill and restructure the Ryan White Care Program with new laws after 3 years.

These changes will allow the Secretary of Health and Human Services more flexibility when deciding which areas of the country have the greatest need and then directing the federal funds to those areas. This will provide the patients who are in the high-need rural areas more access to life-saving services than they have had in the past, and will also maintain most of the funding to the urban areas so that they can continue to provide adequate services to those infected with or affected by HIV/AIDS.

Click here to read the full article from the NY Times.