ILLINOIS: STATE WILL COVER ONLY ONE NEW AIDS DRUG

           About 3,000 AIDS patients in the state who cannot afford to
      buy their own medication but who do not qualify for Medicaid will
      only be able to get one of three new AIDS drugs through the
      state's AIDS Drug Reimbursement Program, CHICAGO TRIBUNE reports.
      The Illinois Department of Public Health announced that it will
      cover only saquinavir, one of three new AIDS medications known as
      protease inhibitors.  The department's announcement followed the
      General Assembly's refusal to provide the $3 million needed for
      the program to provide all three protease inhibitors now on the
      market.
           THE COST:  TRIBUNE reports that paying for saquinavir "will
      come at a cost:"  82 of the other 112 drugs covered by the AIDS
      program will dropped.  These medications include antibiotics,
      which help patients fight off infections, and medicine to help
      ease diarrhea and nausea, conditions which "often accompany"
      AIDS.  In addition, the program will begin requiring patients to
      share some of the cost of drugs as of July 1.
           IMPACT:  TRIBUNE notes that the state's refusal to pay for
      all of the AIDS drugs "provides more incentive for AIDS patients
      to spend their own assets and go on Medicaid," which covers the
      three protease inhibitors.  Only four states -- California, New
      York, Texas and Wisconsin -- have decided to pay for all three
      drugs.  Illinois and Pennsylvania "are believed to be" the only
      other states that provide coverage "for even one of the drugs."
           LEGISLATIVE ACTION:  State Rep. Sara Feigenholtz (D)
      introduced a bill Friday that would appropriate $6.7 million to
      the drug program; however, "the Legislature will not meet until
      November to consider any emergency funding."  State Sen. Tom
      Walsh (R) said that lawmakers may be "more inclined" to vote to
      cover the three drugs "as they become more familiar with" the
      issue.  "Next year we'll have more information on the drugs.  If
      this is something that is going to make people's lives better, I
      don't think you'd find anybody who'd be against that," he said
      (Parsons, 6/1).