I listened to President Obama's recent State of the Union address with both ears cocked wondering if his commentary on health care reform would indicate what may be in store for people, like me, who are living with HIV in America.
I was particularly attuned in light of the GOP-proposed budget cuts for HIV/AIDS programs because we are starting to see proof that taking the scalpel to AIDS funding constitutes real and imminent, "death panels" for people with HIV.
As I write, there are currently more than 5,550 Americans living with HIV/AIDS on waiting lists for the Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in 10 states. ADAP is a federally subsidized, state-run program that covers the cost of antiretroviral treatment for 165,000 low-income Americans with HIV.
Temporary solutions have been found to ensure that, to date, people living with HIV placed on ADAP waiting lists have not gone without their drugs: the federal government and the pharmaceutical companies who manufacture the drugs have come to the rescue. In 2010, when the ADAP crisis began, Congress passed a resolution in support of $126 million in emergency funding; Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius freed $25 million in emergency funding from the Department of Health and Human Services and the president's midyear budget request called for an additional $30 million. As a result, to date, most of those on ADAP waiting lists have not had interruptions in their lifesaving treatment. That may change as early as this week.