Leaders from Illinois Department of Public Health on March 11, 2013 provided an update on proposed FY 14 state funding for IDPH and the funding outlook for HIV programs.

Overall, the news was mixed.  While state general revenue funding for HIV programs has declined significantly over the past three years, IDPH has obtained new sources of state funding, such as the Quality of Life Lottery and African American HIV/AIDS Response Fund, that have somewhat blunted the impact of other reductions. In addition, Illinois has received increased federal funding that has also helped to reduce the strain on the state budget, but this new funding has not been a fully replaced state budget cuts.

In response to the state budget proposal that reduces HIV funding by $4.3 million, AFC urged lawmakers to retain funding in the budget and pass SB 26.

IDPH budget overview by Gary Robinson

HIV Section budget overview by Dr. Mildred Williamson (PDF)

Passage of HB 61 will encourage HIV testing among teens at risk of HIV

ALCC media contact: Ricardo Cifuentes 312 427 8990
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AFC media contact: Ramon Gardenhire, 301-379-3024                       
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The effort to repeal Illinois’s outdated HIV principal reporting law took a major step forward this afternoon when the Illinois House of Representatives voted 61-55-1 in support of Representative La Shawn Ford’s HB 61, which repeals the principal notification sections of Illinois’ Sexually Transmissible Disease Control Act.  The bill next moves to the Senate.  

“Rep. Ford has sponsored this bill for the past five years, and his leadership and persistence have finally paid off,” said Ann Fisher, executive director of AIDS Legal Council of Chicago (ALCC).  “AIDS Legal Council of Chicago and AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) are grateful for Rep. Ford’s support and thank his colleagues in the House who voted for the bill.”

State Must Reinvest Savings in HIV Prevention & Services to Link HIV-Positive People to Medical Care

SPRINGFIELD -- Illinois Governor Pat Quinn released a proposed $35.6 billion state budget on March 6 that would reduce state HIV/AIDS funding by $4.27 million, or 16 percent.

“Thanks to President Obama, many people with HIV will gain new health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, providing partial relief to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP),” said David Ernesto Munar, President/CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. “Illinois has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reinvest ADAP savings to fund HIV prevention and service programs that will reduce new HIV cases and improve health outcomes.”

Under the Governor’s proposed budget, total state HIV spending would drop from $26.23 million in FY13 to $21.75 million in FY14. AFC has learned from sources at the Illinois Department of Public Health that the funding cut would come from ADAP, which provides life-saving medications to people with the disease.

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This week, an Illinois legislative body advanced a major piece of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) when the House Human Services Appropriation Committee passed HB 6253, Medicaid Financing for the Uninsured.

Last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn’t force states to cover low-income uninsured people through Medicaid.  We knew we’d have to take the fight to the Illinois General Assembly.

This effort brought together an unusual mixture of health care providers, business interests, patients and advocates, demonstrating sweeping consensus that it is right and advantageous for Illinois to accept new federal Medicaid funding.  This new opportunity – paid for 100% by the federal government for the first three years – will fill a historic gap in the Medicaid program and provide health care coverage for thousands of low-income Illinoisans who are not now eligible for Medicaid, including many thousands living with HIV/AIDS.

HB 6253 is a new Medicaid opportunity for Illinois that would allow 342,000 low-income adults in Illinois to be newly eligible for Medicaid in 2014.

Check our the '2013 Illinois Medicaid Toolkit'

Thousands of those newly eligible Illinoisans will be people living with HIV/AIDS. New Medicaid will make it much easier for people with HIV to get the medical care they need, stay healthy, and not transmit HIV along to their partners.

In search of facts, answers to questions, or ways to help advocate for HB 6253? The '2013 Illinois Medicaid Toolkit' is stacked with resources to prepare you for a new Medicaid in Illinois. Be a part of the advocacy campaign for new Medicaid (HB 6253) in Illinois!