-Caveat Lector- From HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State
Oct. 31, 2002, 1:35PM Texas may yank AIDS drugs from thousands Associated Press FORT WORTH - As many as 20 percent of nearly 12,000 Texans who rely on a state program to get lifesaving AIDS drugs will lose their coverage if a proposed regulation goes into effect in a few months. Texas Department of Health officials, who proposed the more restrictive income cutoff and other changes, say a budgetary crisis gives them no choice. The state's nearly $60 million program faces a $3 million shortfall for this fiscal year, which ends next August. The shortfall is $30 million more over the next two fiscal years, Dr. Celine Hanson, bureau chief of HIV and STD Prevention, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in today's editions. AIDS advocates say they were blindsided by the proposal, approved unanimously at the Health Department's Oct. 18 board meeting. They question why the department doesn't wait to learn whether the Legislature, which convenes early next year, approves funding to cover the program's shortfall. The Health Department has requested an additional $34 million for the next two-year budgetary cycle, which ends in August 2005. "This is literally a death sentence for some folks," said Pamela Donnelly, associate executive director at AIDS Outreach Center, which serves Tarrant and eight other counties. "I feel like they've put the cart before the horse. It's very likely that we are not going to be able to lobby in a (state budget) deficit year for 34 million additional dollars," Donnelly said. "But let's see what we do get, and let's see then what corners we have to cut." The proposed regulation, expected to be posted Friday in the Texas Register, is open for 30 days of public comment. The Health Department's board will revisit the issue, likely in January or February, before the regulation can become final, Hanson said. And the changes can be reversed at any time if additional state or federal funds are appropriated, but there has to be a backup plan, officials say. Otherwise, "we would have zero dollars left, and we would be able to provide zero medications for zero people," said Dwayne Haught, manager of the Texas HIV medication program. If the new regulation is finalized, new enrollees would be affected immediately. A projected 1,700 Texans would no longer qualify from January 2003 to August 2005, according to state Health Department estimates. Existing enrollees would be given a six-month grace period to find other options, officials say. An estimated 2,500 people would lose coverage by August 2005. The Texas program, funded by state and federal dollars, is designed to be a safety net for people who can't get all their medications covered by Medicaid or earn slightly too much to qualify for public assistance. The program's costs are escalating because more clients are eligible; about 9,000 were served in 1999 compared with a projected 11,500 in 2002. Plus, the average cost per client has nearly doubled since 1996 to about $9,500 annually. And with newer, better and more expensive drugs becoming available, those costs will escalate further, Hanson said. The proposed changes hit hard because they not only substantially restrict income limits, they also don't allow people to deduct their biggest financial cost: the drugs. Michael Click, diagnosed with HIV in 1987, has relied on the program since 1995. On a $16,000 income, he would be left with about $6,000 to live on after paying for medications now covered under the state program. "I don't qualify for any of the other social service programs because I make too much money," said Click, 44, of Fort Worth. "Right now, I'm surviving on my own. I can't tell you the desperation I feel at the thought of losing it all after all of this time." Click for Details Innovative Furniture Click for Details Houston's Largest Jewelry Showroom. HoustonChronicle.com -- http://www.HoustonChronicle.com | Section: Local & State This article is: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1641836 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; I don't believe everything I read or send (but that doesn't stop me from considering it; obviously SOMEBODY thinks it's important) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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