ADAPs in 16 States Now Have Access Restrictions

Cash-strapped AIDS Drug Assistance Programs in 16 states have now implemented access restrictions, including tightened eligibility requirements and waiting lists, according to a report, 'ADAP Watch,' released November 3 by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. At the time of the report, 679 low-income people were on ADAP waiting lists. In West Virginia three HIV-positive people died in 2003 while on that state's waiting list. The report says access restrictions are now in place in Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. AIDS experts say federal ADAP spending in fiscal 2004 needs to be boosted by $214 million to remove all the current access restrictions and to prevent other states from instituting such cost-saving measures.