Gay Men's Health
Crisis, the nation's oldest AIDS service
organization, has both praise and criticism for New
York governor George Pataki's final executive
budget proposal. The agency applauds the inclusion of an
across-the-board "cost of living" funding
increase of AIDS service providers but is worried that
a proposed $1.3 billion in cuts to the state's
Medicaid program will hurt low-income HIVers who rely on
Medicaid for medical care.
"The
HIV/AIDS epidemic has not been static during the
governor's time in office," says Ronald
Johnson, GMHC associate executive director, in a press
statement. "The number of people living with HIV/AIDS
is the highest it has been throughout the epidemic, a
fact reflected in the growing caseloads of service
providers throughout the state. We appreciate the
much-needed inclusion of HIV/AIDS funding in his executive
budget proposal."
But Johnson says
the proposed cuts to Medicaid and the state's Family
Health Plus program could "leave many New Yorkers out
in the cold." Medicaid is the state's
largest provider of health care for HIV-positive New
Yorkers, serving about 65,000 state residents. Cuts to
Family Health Plus could result in up to sevenfold
increases in copayments for medical services,
particularly emergency room visits. Providers also would be
allowed to deny services to patients unable to afford the
copays under Pataki's proposal.
"Seventy
percent of the more than 15,000 clients that walk through
GMHC's doors each year rely on Medicaid for
preventative, primary, and hospital care as well as
for lifesaving prescription drugs. We find it
especially troubling that access to prescription drugs would
be severely restricted and in some cases
denied," Johnson says. (Advocate.com)