March 16, 2007
ETHA MAKES A COMEBACK
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Senators Clinton and Smith give ETHA another chance |
Maybe patience will pay for proponents of the Early Treatment for HIV Act (ETHA). It’s been nearly a decade since Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Richard Gephardt and Sen. Robert Torricelli first introduced ETHA in 1999—and it has failed to gain passage three times since then.
But this week the bipartisan team of Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) reintroduced ETHA, and it could receive a friendly reception in the Democrat-controlled Congress (and the Pelosi-led House). It’s the best first step towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support in the U.S. that’s currently pending before the US Congress.
“With the new Congress, we have a real opportunity to actually pass ETHA,” says Michael Kink, legislative council for Housing Works. “If we get this done, we can cut the AIDS death rate in half—saving the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans living with HIV.”
ETHA would give states the option to extend Medicaid benefits to all low-income HIV-positive people before their HIV progresses to an AIDS diagnosis. Under the current system, most states require that a person receive SSI or SSD disability and have an AIDS diagnosis before they can qualify for Medicaid. Advocates such as the Treatment Access Expansion Project and HIV Medicaid/Medicare Working Group have long argued that extending Medicaid benefits and affordable early treatments before people become disabled prevents them from progressing to AIDS in the first place.
"Too many Americans with HIV are unable to obtain access to life-extending medical treatments--the very medications that could delay the serious complications of AIDS," Senator Clinton said. "By helping those with HIV get the care they need, we can reduce the need for more expensive care in the long term."
The legislation would also reduce the burden on the perpetually jeopardized AIDS Drug Assistance Program and Ryan White CARE Act, which rely on yearly appropriations. Medicaid is an entitlement and guarantees that participating states get medically necessary benefits and services to people in need.
ETHA is similar to the Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000 (BCCA) that allowed states to provide early access to Medicaid to women with cancer. Forty-nine states implemented BCCA.
With political superstars like Hillary and Speaker Pelosi behind it, ETHA has a real chance for passage in the current Congress.
To join the ETHA team in DC or for more information, contact Christine Campbell at campbell@housingworks.org.