January 11, 2008

AIDS Healthcare Foundation Urges Schwarzenegger to Reverse California AIDS Cuts

In a statement released today, January 11, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) urges California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to reverse his proposed state budget cuts, which would eliminate $11 million in services for Californians living with HIV. AHF asks that the governor consider other means of rectifying the state’s $14 billion deficit—such as cutting bureaucracy and corporate-tax-evasion loopholes—besides targeting public health services.

While the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) prepares to release new numbers indicating an increase in HIV prevalence in the U.S.—speculated as being 50 percent higher than previously believed—AHF advises the governor that cutting HIV services may result in additional expenditures in the long run, as more people in the state will be in need of HIV-related services.

Of the $11 million cut from AIDS services, $7 million will be cut from California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which helps low-income people with HIV obtain necessary antiretroviral medications. 

In the statement, which can be read here, AHF president Michael Weinstein proposes that the state could save 15 percent of its annual budget by reducing drug company reimbursements and by purchasing ADAP drugs at federal pricing levels.

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Victor W Russell, San Jose, 2008-01-18 21:48:16
Why should this be worthy of any comment... It's simply balancing the budget on the backs of those who can afford it the least and have the least amount of clout to do anything about it. Bush has been lying about the numbers of new infections and cases progressing to AIDS so that funding stream is cut by about 2/3 so why can’t Governor Schwarzenegger do it to us too? Sadly, I voted for him and am now very saddened that I did.