ADAP Alert The Advocacy Project

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AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition SAVE ADAP ALERT Urge Your Members of Congress To Ask For Full ADAP Funding In Their Appropriations

Request Letters Earlier this month, President Bush started the Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations process with the release of his proposed budget. He is proposing a $70 million increase for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), to assist states in addressing waiting lists for lifesaving drugs. The identified need is $196.6 million to ensure that all ADAPs around the country are able to provide a basic level of service to everyone who needs it. Years of insufficient funding have created a crisis in the program, with many states having to restrict access to treatment through waiting lists and other

measures. In the next few weeks, all Senators and Representatives will write their "programmatic appropriations request letters", which asks members of the Appropriations Subcommittees to support funding for their priorities. These letters play a crucial role in educating key decisionmakers about the importance of programs like ADAP. The first thing you can do this year to fight for ADAP funding is to contact your elected representatives and ask them to include ADAP in their programmatic appropriations request letter. Please take a few minutes to make these important phone calls! How you can help (note the deadlines, these letters will be sent soon): By March 9th, call your U.S. Representative and by March 31st call your two U.S. Senators in their Washington, DC offices. Ask to speak to the staff person who handles HIV/AIDS and healthcare issues. Whether you speak to this person live or leave a message, tell them: "My name is ____________ and I live in City/State. I am calling to urge Representative/Senator________________ to include funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in his/her Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations request letter. This program provides access to lifesaving treatment for people with HIV and AIDS who otherwise wouldn't be able to afford it." Below is sample language that your representatives can use when writing their request letters. Offer to email

or fax it to the staff person. FY07 Appropriations Request for White AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) Mr. Chairman, as your Subcommittee begins work on the Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations bill for Labor/HHS/Education, I wanted to call your attention to the very real needs

of Americans living with HIV/AIDS. As you know, the White CARE Act's AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) makes it possible for low-income Americans to access and afford the drugs to treat HIV/AIDS. Today, over 135,000 Americans depend on ADAP to preserve and extend their lives. Unfortunately, dozens of states are finding themselves unable to keep up with the demand for patients in need of coverage under ADAP and many states have been forced to take drastic action to offset funding shortfalls, including closing their programs to new

patients, putting patients on waiting lists, reducing drug coverage, denying access to new and innovative treatments, and restricting eligibility to lower and lower income thresholds. In my state of (x), (as relevant, add line or 2 on specific state ADAP program) While I am

appreciative of the President's budget request of a $70 million increase over the Fiscal Year 2006 ADAP program, it is simply too little to keep pace with those in need of these life-saving treatments. According to the National ADAP Working Group, an increase of $196.6 million above the current FY06 ADAP funding level is what is needed to care for current and new patients in the coming fiscal year. This "need" number objectively represents the amount that would allow each state to promptly enroll clients under their original eligibility rules-before the introduction of caps and other cost-containment strategies. The

restrictions currently in place, including waiting lists, lead to dangerous treatment interruptions, which increase morbidity, encourage drug resistance, and discourage patient retention in care, all of which have profound effects on public health. Therefore, I urge your support for a $196.6 million increase for ADAP in the Fiscal Year 2007 Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education Appropriations bill. Thank you, on behalf of my state and those living with HIV/AIDS, for your careful consideration of this request. The Save ADAP Committee is a Working Group of the AIDS Treatment Activists Coalition (ATAC), a national coalition of AIDS treatment activists and policy advocates. Working in conjunction with ADAP clients and service providers on the grassroots level, Save ADAP aims to ensure adequate funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program. For more information go to www.atac-usa.org and click “SAVE ADAP”.