Pennsylvania Returns Tens of Millions of Dollars for AIDS Care During State Financial Crisis

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 18, 2009

Pennsylvania Returns Tens of Millions of Dollars for AIDS Care During State Financial Crisis

Pennsylvania will be returning over $11 million for AIDS care to the federal government. Pennsylvania was allocated this money through Ryan White Care Act money, the major federal fund for HIV/AIDS treatment. According to ACT UP member Max October, "The state turned down free money. Pennsylvanians lost the money this year, and we are unable to get that $11 million dollars in any future year. This is unacceptable. "

This underspending comes at a time when:

§ The Pennsylvania Senate has proposed a 25% cut to HIV funding.

§ Infection rates are rising in almost every demographic.

§ Local municipalities across the state are facing budget crises, including a major budget crisis in Philadelphia.

In many regions of Pennsylvania, there are no dedicated AIDS Service Organizations. AIDS services are coordinated by general nonprofits and local public healthdepartments. Patients have to travel sometimes hundreds of miles to access primary care physicians with the specialized knowledge required to treat HIV and accompanying Opportunistic Infections. There is significant need statewide for more physicians, social workers, and public health workers with HIV/AIDS-specific training and expertise. According to an AIDS social worker, "This money could have been used in creative ways to help with people living with HIV/AIDS with medication and medical coverage-related costs. It's absurd that Pennsylvania would return money that we need so badly to support people living with HIV/AIDS in rural areas."

A consistent pattern is emerging: the state's Division of HIV/AIDS is not aggressively seeking out funding sources, nor connecting funding sources with the demonstrated needs of vulnerable Pennsylvanians.

Call for Apology and Accountability of Director Joseph Pease

There is clear need across Pennsylvania for AIDS services, testing, and prevention. In addition, there is need to utilize funding in creative ways to improve infrastructure and access to care and medications for people outside major metropolitan areas.

Despite the clear need, the Director of the Pennsylvania Department of Health, Bureau of Communicable Diseases Division of HIV/AIDS, Joseph Pease, has failed to follow through. His office has not released an epidemiological study since 2004. He failed to spend tens of millions of dollars already given to the state for HIV/AIDS services. His office failed to apply for a 3-year National Minority AIDS Initiative (NMAI) grant, resulting in another significant loss of up to $12 million over the next three years.

For these reason, ACT UP Philadelphia is calling for public apology and accountability from Director Pease. Pease must account for why no epidemiological study has been done since 2004, why his office failed to apply for the NMAI grant, and how his office let tens of millions of dollars slip through the cracks. He must apologize publicly for his actions, and develop a plan to aggressively seek out and use funding to meet the needs of Pennsylvanians living with HIV/AIDS.

YIKES! Big cuts on the table in the Pennsylvania Budget

Things have been really busy at ACT UP these days... it's budget season, not to mention we're gearing up for a big housing campaign.

Some quick updates: we're collecting and crunching the numbers on hundreds of housing surveys we've collected, we've been meeting with AIDS and housing activists in Philadelphia and thinking about needs and strategies, and we've been doing tremendous research (some documented on this blog) about how housing is funded and who makes housing decisions in Philadelphia.

Not to mention we've been strategizing about how to respond to the cuts and flat-funding of AIDS treatment and prevention services that are on the table in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Federal Budgets.

Here's the update on the state budget. While most money spent on HIV/AIDS in Pennsylvania is federal, the state has two budget items related to AIDS. The first is for AIDS medicine, which, thank goodness, is not being cut (it's being maintained at previous years' levels).

The second is money that is, according to the state, used to fund "a coordinated strategy to prevent and change high-risk behaviors and provide resources and direction for sustaining preventive behavior and avoiding infection with HIV....The program includes on-site training, both print and electronic public information services, community intervention projects for at-risk populations and the provision of care, case management and supportive services for persons infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. Confidential and anonymous HIV testing and partner notification services are also provided at over 500 sites statewide."

Governor Rendell and the House of Representatives proposed maintaining current funding levels at 10 million dollars, as they have been in the last couple of years. Of course, we'd like to see increases in the funding, to combat rising infection rates and unmet needs. But it gets worse... the Senate is proposing CUTTING THIS FUND BY 25%.

That would mean drastic cuts or even closure of agencies providing prevention and support services like HIV testing, counseling, and personal care.

Fortunately, it's not too late to prevent these cuts -- the House of Representatives and Senate will get together to hammer out the differences in their proposed budgets, and the Governor then has to approve the joint proposal.

You can help them make the right decision by contacting your State Representatives and Senators, and Governor Rendell, and asking them to reject the cuts proposed by the Senate.

You can find their contact information at http://www.legis.state.pa.us/.