The ADAP Working Group is a unique ad hoc coalition of HIV/AIDS community- based organizations, biotechnology, pharmacy and pharmaceutical research companies. Our mission is to ensure adequate access to HIV/AIDS-related therapies through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), funded under Title II of the Ryan White CARE Act.

The ADAP Working Group believes that the enclosed budget projection provides an accurate representation of the cost of providing a basic standard of HIV/AIDS care to those on ADAP in Fiscal Year 1999, which runs April 1, 1999 - March 31, 2000.

The cost of treating a person with AIDS on Medicaid can be upwards of $40,000 a year*. In fiscal 1999, adequate treatment per person on ADAP will average little more than $10,000 for the year, including costs for treating and preventing opportunistic infections. Without adequate ADAP funding, uninsured and underinsured people with HIV will have to wait until they are sick and disabled in order to qualify for Medicaid and receive the treatment that could have prevented their illness. This is clearly unsound health care policy.

The impact of multi-drug anti-HIV therapy has been well publicized over the past two years. The many incremental gains in the prevention and treatment of opportunistic infections have also made a significant contribution to extending and improving the lives of people with AIDS. The stunning 44% drop in deaths from AIDS nationally in the first half of 1997 is the most recent testament to these facts. Also, for the first time, the National Institutes of Health and the Public Health Service have released guidelines on the use of antiretroviral therapy that promise to further improve the standard of care for people with HIV and AIDS.

The ADAP Working Group believes that we cannot afford to deny optimum HIV and AIDS treatment to all those that could benefit from it. The ADAP population is particularly vulnerable, often depending on a fractured system of care and on other vital Ryan White services. They should not have to decline into disability to receive the treatments they need.

The following summarizes the ADAP Budget Projections