FY2000 Budget

White House AIDS Czar
Applauds FY2000 Budget Increases

Washington, DC - Sandra Thurman, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, applauded the Administration’s leadership on HIV/AIDS as reflected in its Fiscal Year 2000 budget proposal to Congress. "Once again, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have demonstrated their commitment to ending this epidemic. There are substantial increases in AIDS-specific programs--over $165 million--as well as several special initiatives that will be critical to addressing the ongoing needs of those living with HIV/AIDS," said Thurman. "These include support for the Jeffords-Kennedy Work Incentives Improvement Act, Patients’ Bill of Rights, increased Medicaid coverage for immigrants, and support for long-term care. As there are more and more Americans living with HIV and AIDS, it is vital that our response include those programs that benefit the broader disability community including people with HIV/AIDS."

"Most importantly, this Administration will continue its efforts to address HIV/AIDS in racial and ethnic minorities. Secretary Shalala’s budget at HHS continues emergency funding for these efforts, announced by the President and the Secretary this past October," said Thurman.

Included in the budget proposal released today are the following:

• $100 million increase in the Ryan White CARE Act, which supports states and cities in caring for those living with HIV and AIDS;

• $35 million increase in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program to assist in providing life-saving treatments to people with HIV/AIDS who cannot otherwise afford them;

• $36 million increase in early intervention programs of Ryan White (Title III), with most of the new funding going to serve racial and ethnic minorities in furtherance of the Administration’s efforts to address the racial disparity in HIV/AIDS;

• $15 million increase in AIDS housing at HUD, to increase housing support to states and urban areas most heavily impacted by AIDS through the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program;

• $10 million increase in HIV prevention and education at the CDC to initiate a "Know Your HIV Status" campaign targeting minority populations and youth; and

• $35 million increase in AIDS research at the National Institutes of Health to enhance efforts to find a vaccine, a cure, and better treatments.

The President’s budget proposal also includes new initiatives that will provide substantial benefit to people living with HIV/AIDS, including:

• Demonstration Program to Expand Disability Coverage, allowing States to offer health coverage to individuals who meet an expanded definition of disability set by the States. This expanded definition--an important component of the Jeffords-Kennedy Work Incentives Improvement Act (S. 331)--will include persons who have a medical conditions, such as HIV or diabetes, that will become disabling but for the provision of Medicaid-covered services;

• Flexibility to Cover People With Disabilities: building on a provision of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), this proposal will give States broad flexibility to set higher income and resource standards in Medicaid to encourage people with disabilities to return to work. In addition, Medicaid will allow States that adopt the more generous income and resource standards to cover individuals who no longer meet SSI and Social Security Disabled Insurance (SSDI) disability criteria because of medical improvement. States offering new options would receive grants to develop support systems that help people with disabilities--including those disabled by HIV/AIDS-- who return to work;

• Tax Credit for Long-Term Care: will help people with chronic illness or the families with whom they live. People with significant long-term care needs or their care givers would receive a $1,000 tax credit beginning in 2000. Approximately two million people would benefit, at a cost of $5.5 billion;

• Restored Medicaid Eligibility for Legal Immigrants to three vulnerable groups of legal immigrants: children; pregnant women; and disabled immigrants whose eligibility for SSI would also be restored. As the President has pledged, and has achieved for other groups so affected, this would reverse an inequity enacted in welfare reform. Over 50% of adults and 90% of children living with HIV/AIDS depend on Medicaid, making this restoration critically important to addressing the needs of legal immigrants living with HIV/AIDS;
  
  
• A Strong and Enforceable Patients’ Bill of Rights remains a top Administration priority, though it is not specifically included in the FY2000 budget proposal. For those persons living with HIV/AIDS who must interact regularly with the health care system, the key provisions of the Bill of Rights--access to specialists, coverage of emergency room services, continuity of care, internal and independent external appeals, and patient protections--are absolutely critical.

ANALYSIS OF FY2000 BUDGET
SELECTED AIDS PROGRAMS