Sign-On Letter from the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership

Agencies Urge Congress to Reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act Swiftly and Responsibly

Deadline: Noon PST, Friday March 11th
List in formation, email Ryan Clary at rclary@projectinform.org to join.
Please provide the following information:
Organization name
City and State
Contact person with email address

**Please note that this letter is for organizations only**

March 3, 2005

Dear Representative:
(separate letter for use in the Senate)

As a group of local, regional, and national organizations working on HIV/AIDS issues, we write to request your support of the reauthorization of the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act (hereinafter referred to as "the CARE Act") in 2005. The CARE Act programs have worked with cities, states, and local community-based organizations to provide services annually to approximately 533,000 HIV-positive individuals who do not have sufficient health care coverage or financial resources to treat their HIV disease. Initially passed in 1990, reauthorized in 1996 and again in 2000, the CARE Act has always enjoyed wide bipartisan support from Congress and the Administration.

We are pleased that in June of 2004, President Bush announced his support for the reauthorization of this critical legislation. He reiterated his support in this year's State of the Union address by saying, "Because HIV/AIDS brings suffering and fear into so many lives, I ask you to reauthorize the Ryan White Act."

The CARE Act is a payer of last resort; designed to address the gaps left by Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, and other publicly financed health care systems. It remains an essential part of our nation's response to the domestic HIV/AIDS epidemic. This critical piece of legislation is set to expire September 30, 2005.

Our organizations, representing diverse stakeholder communities, all agree upon the necessity of the following:

• The CARE Act should be reauthorized by September 30, 2005.
• The CARE Act should remain focused on providing lifesaving care and treatment, and the necessary support services to attain that care.
• The CARE Act should continue to promote equitable access to a full range of vital health care and related support services for all persons living with HIV/AIDS nationwide.
• The CARE Act was designed to address the gaps in care and access for people with HIV/AIDS who are uninsured or underinsured, cannot readily access care or cover the costs of care on their own, and who do not have another source of payment for services, public or private, available to them. There should be a renewed commitment in the CARE Act to provide the necessary programs and resources to allow it to fill in the gaps in care and treatment and truly be the payer of last resort.
• An emphasis should be placed upon keeping CARE Act programs and services current with the latest research and knowledge of HIV/AIDS, including qualified health providers, advanced medications, and access to cutting-edge clinical trials.
• Collaboration and communication should be increased across all of the CARE Act titles, and this increased coordination should include federal agencies such as Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Social Security Administration (SSA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
• The community-sensitive aspects of the CARE Act, such as community planning, consumer input, and coordination with local health-care systems and decision-makers, should be maintained.
• The CARE Act should continue to promote knowledge of HIV status through voluntary testing.
• The CARE Act must be adequately funded through the annual appropriations process.

The enormity of the CARE Act's success is reflected in the number of people still living with HIV/AIDS in this country, people who otherwise would have died without CARE Act services and treatment. It is partly because of the legislation's success in saving lives, however, that the number of people needing sustained access to quality care and treatment is at an all-time high. The disease-related disabilities and financial toll of battling HIV/AIDS leave many individuals reliant on public aid for care. Federal commitment to these services is more critical than ever.

The cost-effectiveness and public health implications of enabling people to remain in care, out of the hospital, and receiving health and mental health services, has been widely demonstrated in public health research. Further, as HIV is a transmissible illness, providing care is also related to slowing the spread of the virus at the population level. Most recently, the Institute of Medicine's report, Public Financing and Delivery of HIV/AIDS Care: Securing the Legacy of Ryan White (May 13, 2004), examined both the importance of securing access to HIV/AIDS treatment and care, as well as the critical role that the CARE Act has served in providing such services.

There are both humanitarian and public health reasons for the continuation of this landmark piece of legislation. In short, the CARE Act has saved hundreds of thousands of lives and improved the health of countless others. The decrease in deaths brought about by quality health care, coupled with ongoing new infections, indicates that more people than ever are in need of the services of the CARE Act. We will need your help to ensure that it is reauthorized in a meaningful way, free of divisive amendments, so that we can provide the necessary care and treatment to those in need.

We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you further. If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Carl Schmid of The AIDS Institute at (202) 462-3042 or Greg Smiley of the American Academy of HIV Medicine at (202) 251-2148. Thank you for your time, effort, and consideration.

Sincerely,

List in formation, email Ryan Clary at rclary@projectinform.org to join.
Please provide the following information:
Organization name
City and State
Contact person with email address
Deadline: Noon PST, Friday March 11th

AID Atlanta
AIDGwinnett
AIDS Action
AIDS Action Baltimore, Inc.
AIDS Alliance for Children, Youth & Families
AIDS Foundation of Chicago
The AIDS Foundation of St. Louis
The AIDS Institute AIDS Legal Referral Panel of San Francisco
AIDS Project Los Angeles
AIDS Treatment Initiatives
AIDS Survival Project
Absolute Wellness: The Brandon Ross Abernathy Community Center
American Academy of HIV Medicine
American Dental Education Association
American Psychological Association
Aniz, Inc
Association of Maternal and Child Health Programs
The Atlanta AIDS Partnership Fund
Beulah Grove Community Resource Center
Cascade AIDS Project
Central City AIDS Network, Inc
CHAMP (Community HIV/AIDS Mobilization Project)
Communities Advocating Emergency AIDS Relief Coalition
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
DeKalb Prevention Alliance
District Clinical Services/Ryan White Title II & Title III Clinic
Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Elm Street Project
Gay Men's Health Crisis
Georgia Coalition to End Homelessness, Inc
Georgia Rural Urban Summit HIV Medicine Association
Harm Reduction Coalition Health
GAP (Global Access Project)
Housing Works, Inc.
Human Rights Campaign
Immigration Equality Indigent Metropolitan AIDS Care Collaborative-Minneapolis, Minnesota
Lifelong AIDS Alliance
Living Room, Inc.
McIntosh Trail Community Service Board
National AIDS Fund
National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors
National Association of People with AIDS
National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association
National Health Law Program
National Minority AIDS Council
New York AIDS Coalition
NYC AIDS Housing Network
North Georgia AIDS Alliance
Pierce County AIDS Foundation
Project Inform
Project Open Hand
Promesa Systems-Bronx, New York
San Francisco AIDS Foundation
Southside Clique
Southern AIDS Coalition
Title II Community AIDS National Network (TIICANN)
United Communities AIDS Network
Whitman-Walker Clinic

The Federal AIDS Policy Partnership's Ryan White Reauthorization Working Group is a coalition of national and regional/local organizations that are working to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act. This lifesaving legislation, which funds care, treatment, and support services to thousands of people with HIV/AIDS nationwide, expires on September 30th of this year and must be reauthorized.

CARE Act Action Center