March 23, 2007
AN ‘ETHA-OR’ SITUATION
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Senator Smith is all over ETHA |
Last week Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) reintroduced legislation to pass the Early Treatment of HIV ACT (ETHA), but they aren’t sitting around waiting to see what will happen.
This week they introduced an amendment to the Fiscal Year 2008 budget that would fund ETHA-like projects in two states. That, say advocates, could be an important step on the road to eventual passage of ETHA itself.
The budget amendment, which requires 60 votes to pass, proposes spending up to $500 million to fund a demonstration project in two states that would extend Medicaid benefits to all low-income people with HIV, whether or not they have been diagnosed with AIDS. Under current rules in most states, a person must be diagnosed with AIDS and receive SSI or SSD disability to qualify for Medicaid benefits. Changing those rules will keep people healthier longer and avoid costly treatments and surgeries.
ETHA would grant all states the option to extend Medicaid benefits to low-income people with HIV regardless of an AIDS diagnosis. So far, 19 senators have signed on to cosponsor it. This week’s budget amendment, which Senators are expected to vote on the this morning, is not a substitute for ETHA, but an additional strategy for getting the larger bill passed. According to Carl Schmid, director of federal affairs at the AIDS Institute, “No matter the result, the amendment gets the issue out there, which is important when ETHA is considered in the future.”
Michael Kink, legislative counsel for Housing Works says, “With a Democrat-controlled Congress, bipartisan support for ETHA in the Senate and Nancy Pelosi as a driving force in the House, there’s every reason to believe that ETHA’s got a good shot at passage as a stand-alone measure. But having a budget amendment on the table gets us two bites at the apple – it’s another move in the right direction.”
TAKE ACTION: Call your Senators toll-free at 888-802-1207 and ask them to “vote for the Smith-Clinton budget amendment to fund Medicaid coverage for low-income people living with HIV.”