Houston Hit Hard by Cuts in Funding for HIV/AIDS

HIV/AIDS service providers in Houston are facing the painful realities of the federal Ryan White CARE Act funding cuts recently announced. The overall cut to the Houston area was about 6.8 percent, said Ken Malone, executive director of the Assistance Fund, which provides medication help for HIV/AIDS patients. Ryan White funds are emergency aid to urban areas disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS, and on that list Houston is number five, he said.

"We've been preparing for it," Katy Caldwell, executive director of the Montrose Clinic, said about the funding cut. "We've made some staff reductions, and we're not replacing certain vacant positions." "It feels awful when you have to say to someone who needs services, 'Come back in a month,'" said Caldwell.

Now that the federal government has allocated the funds to Houston, the region's Ryan White Planning Council (RWPC) takes over to decide their local distribution, said Caldwell. RWPC has already decided to decrease funding for the Montrose Clinic by 7 percent, she said.

Cuts to the Assistance Fund were less harsh, at 3 percent, though Malone said there would be some service reductions. This could mean serving fewer clients or not providing clients with all the medication they need, he said.

Congress is now deciding what future funding cuts will be made, and Houston care providers said it looks as though the federal government plans to slash another 19 percent from the Ryan White CARE Act by 2009. Caldwell said, "The clients don't stop coming just because the money stops." Said Malone: "This is the worst I've ever seen coming down from Washington. At some point, there will have to be a consolidation of service agencies. Nobody wants to hear that," he said.

Back to other news for March 17, 2004