The San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) strongly praised Governor Schwarzenegger today for signing a Fiscal Year 2004-05 budget that fully funds the state's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) at $234 million, an increase of $27 million. This budget eliminates an earlier proposal to cap enrollment in the program and ensures that low-income Californians living with HIV and AIDS will have access to life-prolonging medications.

ADAP provides a wide range of HIV-medications to approximately 24,000 low-income Californians, most of whom are severely economically disadvantaged. Without ADAP, HIV medications that can cost at least $10,000 to $15,000 per year would be out of reach for thousands of low-income Californians. In FY 2004-05, ADAP needed an additional $25 million due to increased enrollment, the use of additional drugs by current enrollees, and increased drug prices.

"AIDS advocates across California would like to thank Governor Schwarzenegger for realistically funding this life and death program," said Dana Van Gorder, Director of State and Local Affairs for SFAF. "We're pleased that the Governor reconsidered his position and that the Administration worked with the community to find common ground on this issue. Ultimately, money spent to prevent or delay the onset of AIDS saves the state a substantial amount of money in acute health care costs. This is both a humane and cost-effective program and the Governor deserves credit for recognizing that."

The FY 2004-05 budget increased the Therapeutic Monitoring Program (TMP) by $3 million, taking the program total to $4 million. TMP pays for viral load and drug resistance testing primarily for ADAP clients. TMP contributes significantly to the effectiveness and cost efficiency of ADAP by assuring that individuals are taking appropriate regimens of HIV/AIDS medications.

AIDS advocates are concerned about the pending redesign of the Medi-Cal program, which provides medical care to extremely low-income individuals. The Governor could be asking extremely low-income individuals to share the cost of critically needed care. These vulnerable Californians would be placed in the predicament of paying for medical care, or paying for necessities like housing or food. The net effect of the redesign may be to drive AIDS patients out of care all together, as has occurred in other states.