Sign-On Letter from the HIV Medicaid/Medicare Working Group:

Agencies Urge President Bush to Safeguard Medicaid for People Living with HIV/AIDS

Deadline to sign-on: 4:00 p.m. CST, Friday January 21

January 21, 2005

The President
The White House
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

The undersigned organizations that serve and advocate for people living with and at risk for HIV/AIDS are writing to strongly urge you not to propose cuts in Medicaid funding and/or any changes in the program's structure that would alter the open-ended financing for states. We also urge you not to weaken the individual entitlement or other key consumer protections that have helped Medicaid to serve the national interest so effectively for nearly four decades.

Medicaid is the largest source of federal financing for HIV/AIDS care in the United States. The program provides access to healthcare for 55% of all people living with HIV/AIDS, and 90% of all children living with AIDS. It plays a critical role in providing access to anti-HIV drugs that forestall illness and disability, and allow people to live longer, more productive lives. While Medicare and the Ryan White CARE Act are vital components of the national system of health care for people with HIV/AIDS, they do not have the resources and are not appropriately designed to respond to unmet needs if structure changes were made to Medicaid that would result in either fewer people qualifying for coverage or if states were forced to restrict services. Thus, any cuts or changes in Medicaid's financing structure will seriously jeopardize access to HIV/AIDS care in the United States.

Furthermore, we are firmly opposed to changes in the current structure of the Medicaid program that would turn the program into a block grant or cap federal funding. The individual entitlement provided under Medicaid is essential. The reliable and consistent federal funding stream allows the program to respond to increases in demand as more people with AIDS are identified—an important goal of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Advancing HIV Prevention initiative—and supports access to more effective, less toxic anti-HIV therapies as they are developed.

The health of our country's most vulnerable residents must be viewed as a priority. We ask that you create a budget proposal for FY 2006 that ensures adequate Medicaid funding and maintains the program's current structure so that it can continue to meet the needs of people with HIV/AIDS and others who rely on this lifesaving program.

Sincerely,

List in formation, contact Lei Chou at theaccessproject@aol.com to join.
Deadline: 4:00 p.m. CST, Friday January 21

Sensible Medicaid Campaign