The San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) today strongly praised Governor Schwarzenegger for including $29.4 million in additional funding for the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in his budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2005-06. The AIDS Foundation said the Governor's support of the program is both "compassionate and pragmatic."

"Low-income people with HIV and AIDS can breathe a huge sigh of relief today as a result of the Governor's compassionate decision," said Dana Van Gorder, Director of State and Local Affairs for the Foundation. "The ability of low-income people living with HIV and AIDS to access this program is a matter of life and death, and the Governor clearly recognized this fact. AIDS advocates are especially thankful to him for fully funding ADAP at a time when the state continues to face significant fiscal challenges."

ADAP provides a range of HIV-medications to approximately 30,000 low-income Californians, most of whom are severely economically disadvantaged. Without ADAP, HIV medications--which can cost between $10,000 and $15,000 per year--would be out of reach for hundreds of low income Californians. In the state's 2005-06 budget year, ADAP requires an additional $30 million in funding to pay for the rising number of individuals eligible for its services, the use of additional drugs by current enrollees, and increased drug prices. Schwarzenegger provided $20.6 million in increased state general fund support for the program, and estimated that it will receive an additional $8.8 million in rebate revenues paid by pharmaceutical companies on ADAP purchases. The total cost of California 's ADAP program in 2005-06 will be $263.6 million.

"In addition to being medically necessary, the Governor's support for ADAP is pragmatic, too," explains Van Gorder. "Money spent on medications to keep people living with HIV and AIDS healthy ultimately saves the state enormous sums in acute health care costs."

The Foundation also lauded the Governor's decision not to propose cuts to other HIV/AIDS programs in the state budget. All other AIDS programs, including prevention, testing and counseling, and HIV care programs, have been slated for flat-funding in the Governor's proposed budget.

AIDS advocates, however, are carefully studying proposals made by the Governor today to control the cost of Medi-Cal, the state's largest provider of primary medical care for low-income people living with AIDS. "We are concerned that proposals to require premium payments and require certain Medi-Cal clients to enroll in managed care might reduce the quality of care for this vulnerable population," said Van Gorder. "We look forward to working with the Governor to ensure that this critical program is run in a fiscally prudent way, while achieving its mission of assuring health for vulnerable Californians."