Nearly 800 People on ADAP Waiting Lists, KFF, NASTAD Survey Says

Nearly 800 people are on waiting lists for HIV/AIDS-related medications from federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, a survey of state and territorial ADAPs released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors says, Reuters reports (Richwine, Reuters, 3/30). ADAPs are federal- and state-funded programs that provide HIV/AIDS-related medications to low-income, uninsured and underinsured HIV-positive individuals (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/3). According to the survey, the national ADAP budget in fiscal year 2005 was $1.3 billion, an increase of 10% from FY 2004. In addition, as of June 2005, about 134,000 people in the U.S. -- which is approximately one quarter of the individuals receiving HIV/AIDS-related care in the U.S. -- were enrolled in ADAP programs nationwide, the survey says ("National ADAP Monitoring Project," 3/30). The survey adds that a number of states have waiting lists for prescription coverage or have reduced the number of medications covered under their programs (Reuters, 3/30). According to the survey, an estimated 17,000 ADAP clients are eligible to receive prescriptions through the Medicare Part D drug benefit that began this year, and most ADAPs have created policies to transition clients to the drug benefit to cover the gaps in their drug coverage ("National ADAP Monitoring Project," 3/30). "The need for HIV-related medications continues to outstrip their availability," the report says. If no changes are made to the current ADAP funding system, programs "will continue to have to make difficult trade-off decisions between serving more people with less services or serving less people with more services," the report adds (Reuters, 3/30).

A forum to release the results of the survey was webcast by kaisernetwork.org. The webcast included Congressional staff, state AIDS directors and a pharmaceutical industry representative discussing the status of ADAP programs, the Ryan White CARE Act Reauthorization and the impact of Hurricane Katrina.

The report is available online.

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