Braley unsure if stimulus is quickest remedy for HIV/AIDS prescription shortfall

U.S. Rep. Bruce Braley isn’t necessarily against redistributing unobligated federal stimulus dollars to other programs with critical needs, but he isn’t convinced that doing so as a stop-gap measure for the under-funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program will bring help quickly enough.

The AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) provides uninsured, under-insured and low-income Americans access to life-saving retroviral medications to combat HIV and AIDS is one portion of the Ryan White CARE Act. For a wide variety of reasons ranging from stagnant federal appropriations to economic decline to increased health for those able to access proper medication, at least 10 states (including Iowa) have had to implement waiting lists. And despite the fact that states have partnered with hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and others in order to help those on waiting lists access prescriptions, the situation is becoming dire.

“The bottom line is that the program is dramatically under-funded,” Braley said on a conference call Wednesday. “It is having a dramatic impact in states like Iowa, and we need to find a funding source for it.”

The problem Braley sees with utilizing funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act is that the legislation was passed as a two-year program.

“We’ve gone through the bulk of the spending … but we really don’t know right now what could potentially be available at the end of that statutory period,” said Braley, a Democrat who represents Iowa’s 1st Congressional District. “I don’t think we can wait until then to make that decision, but, obviously, if we get to that point and we have not addressed the issue of this funding shortfall than I would be certainly in favor of looking into that.”

The proposal to use $126 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act came from a bill filed this week by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., and co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., which has been handed to the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) for further consideration.

U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, serves as chairman of the HELP committee, but declined to comment because he had not had opportunity to view the proposed legislation prior to his Thursday morning conference call with reporters.

Braley and U.S. Rep. Leonard Boswell, a Democrat who represents Iowa’s 3rd District, were two of nearly 80 members of the U.S. House to sign a letter this month to Pres. Barack Obama, urging that he push for an immediate emergency funding stream in the amount of $126 million for the ADAPs. Despite inquires from The Iowa Independent regarding the letter, the Obama administration has not yet indicated if it will advocate for the additional funding.

On May 10, Iowa had at least 77 people on its ADAP waiting list. According to state officials that figure has now increased to 83 people. Nationally there are at least, and probably more than, 1,100 individuals waiting to access the program. That figure is expected to dramatically increase June 1 when the Florida ADAP implements the second waiting list in its 25-year history.