July 2, 2009
Dear Colleagues,
This is to update you on the intensive advocacy work AIDS Alliance has been doing on your behalf recently. On TUESDAY, JULY 7 we will be sending you an action alert to contact the elected officials from your state THAT DAY and ask for their support for the $5 million dollar increase for existing Part D programs. Elected officials really DO record and listen to the number of people who call in or email from their home area -- I witnessed it a lot over the past two weeks as I sat in their waiting areas! Numbers are key -- think about ways to involve your staff, consumers, family, and friends. Aside from it being the right thing to do for our community, it's a way to preserve jobs in Part D programs. My thinking is that if all Part D staff -- nurses, social workers, peer educators, physicians, administrators, case managers, and others -- could call or send an email, we'd be in good shape. Get your consumers involved. (Those that attended VOICES are getting this too!) It will be a simple, automated process. Along with other national HIV/AIDS advocacy and membership groups, we are a member of the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership. As a group, we are advocating for a three-year extension (reauthorization) and expanded funding (appropriations) of the Ryan White CARE Act. A three-year extension and an increase should allow appropriate time and resources to understand the impact of both health care reform and the national strategic plan for HIV prevention, care, and treatment; while we collectively continue to strive to maintain health and stability for persons living with HIV/AIDS. Appropriations Issue: We participated along with other national HIV/AIDS groups in submitting a request for expanded funding for various HIV/AIDS agencies and programs (including Ryan White, CDC, NIH, HOPWA, etc.) for FY2010, in response to the President's proposed budget. We are advocating on behalf of Part D for at least a $5 million dollar increase for the existing programs, as an across the board increase to help sites deal with projected increased demand for services as a result of expanded testing and case finding and to avoid lay-offs that could result from level funding mixed with cost increases and diminished state and local budgets. On Wednesday, July 8, the Labor, Health and Human Services subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee develops the budget mark-up. Shortly thereafter, it's presented to the full committee for vote. Later in July, the Senate goes through the same process.AIDS Alliance Current Appropriations Actions:
Talked directly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and six other members of Congress about Part D programs.
Met with key staff from 11 House and Senate Appropriations members specifically about the $5 million dollar increase.
Meeting requests with 10 House and Senate Appropriations members pending.
Tuesday, July 7, Part D action alert to all elected officials to support the increase.
Identified the 28 House Appropriations and 18 Senate Appropriations Committee members with Part D programs in their state and are sending special alerts to those programs.
Sent letter to Chairs of both House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting the increase.
Participated in writing the community consensus appropriations letter and distributed it to the directors of Part D projects for sign on.The full text of the appropriations sign on letter and Part D appropriations letter are available on our website. A number of Part D grantees signed on to that letter in response to our urgent action request last week. Thank you.Legislative/Re-authorization Issue: In addition to a three-year extension, it's proposed to have language in the bill that would address a limited number of Title-specific clarifications or corrections, known as technical fixes. The Part D technical fix pertains to Medical Expense Reporting Requirements and is in response to grantees being required in recent years to allocate grant dollars to medical services, even when those services are being provided through other means. Unlike other parts, Part D was exempted from the core medical services set aside in the 2006 reauthorization legislation because many Part D grantees are able to access Medicaid, SCHIP and other public programs to pay for most primary medical care for their clients. Part D 2006 legislative language states that grantees must provide access to these services either directly or through contract. Previously, HRSA allowed Part D grantees to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with medical providers to ensure access to primary care, even when financial reimbursement was not involved. We suspect that the word "contract" may be the issue here and are proposing that the language be broadened to include MOUs that guarantee access to medical care without any financial exchange or allocation requirement.Legislative/Re-authorization Action: Developing Ryan White legislative language is the purview of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce/Health Subcommittee. These are the same people working now on health care reform. We expect they will be working on Ryan White language through the summer, with a real surge of activity in late summer. We are meeting with staff of key members from both committees over the next few weeks and will be calling on you for action alerts (emails and phone calls) as that happens.The full document drafted by the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership, recommending legislative language, known as the Ryan White Work Group HIV/AIDS Community Consensus document is available on our website.
Talked directly with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and six other members of Congress about Part D programs.
Met with key staff from 11 House and Senate Appropriations members specifically about the $5 million dollar increase.
Meeting requests with 10 House and Senate Appropriations members pending.
Tuesday, July 7, Part D action alert to all elected officials to support the increase.
Identified the 28 House Appropriations and 18 Senate Appropriations Committee members with Part D programs in their state and are sending special alerts to those programs.
Sent letter to Chairs of both House and Senate Appropriations Committees requesting the increase.
Participated in writing the community consensus appropriations letter and distributed it to the directors of Part D projects for sign on.The full text of the appropriations sign on letter and Part D appropriations letter are available on our website. A number of Part D grantees signed on to that letter in response to our urgent action request last week. Thank you.Legislative/Re-authorization Issue: In addition to a three-year extension, it's proposed to have language in the bill that would address a limited number of Title-specific clarifications or corrections, known as technical fixes. The Part D technical fix pertains to Medical Expense Reporting Requirements and is in response to grantees being required in recent years to allocate grant dollars to medical services, even when those services are being provided through other means. Unlike other parts, Part D was exempted from the core medical services set aside in the 2006 reauthorization legislation because many Part D grantees are able to access Medicaid, SCHIP and other public programs to pay for most primary medical care for their clients. Part D 2006 legislative language states that grantees must provide access to these services either directly or through contract. Previously, HRSA allowed Part D grantees to enter into memoranda of understanding (MOUs) with medical providers to ensure access to primary care, even when financial reimbursement was not involved. We suspect that the word "contract" may be the issue here and are proposing that the language be broadened to include MOUs that guarantee access to medical care without any financial exchange or allocation requirement.Legislative/Re-authorization Action: Developing Ryan White legislative language is the purview of the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce/Health Subcommittee. These are the same people working now on health care reform. We expect they will be working on Ryan White language through the summer, with a real surge of activity in late summer. We are meeting with staff of key members from both committees over the next few weeks and will be calling on you for action alerts (emails and phone calls) as that happens.The full document drafted by the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership, recommending legislative language, known as the Ryan White Work Group HIV/AIDS Community Consensus document is available on our website.
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