Ryan White Extension Lacks Provision To Lock In S.F. HIV/AIDS Funds
The Ryan White CARE Act reauthorization that passed the House Wednesday did not include a provision to restore San Francisco's declining share of federal HIV/AIDS funds, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.
San Francisco began losing HIV/AIDS funding after the 2006 reauthorization of the program, which shifted more funds to rural areas and regions with higher HIV/AIDS rates.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) supported a measure that would have permanently locked in San Francisco's funds, but the provision did not make it into the final House bill (Joseph, San Francisco Chronicle, 10/22). Last year, Pelosi backed a similar provision that allocated an additional $7 million to San Francisco (California Healthline, 10/1).
Pelosi's aides say she now is working to grant San Francisco about $5.3 million in HIV/AIDS funding through a separate appropriations process (San Francisco Chronicle, 10/22).
Ryan White Extension Details
The House voted 408-9 to reauthorize Ryan White after the Senate unanimously approved the bill earlier this week. The measure now goes to President Obama, who has said he supports it.
The extension will grant the program an additional four years of funding, starting at $2.55 billion for fiscal year 2010 and rising to $2.95 billion by FY 2013. HHS will administer the program.
In addition, the reauthorization calls for states to adopt a name-based HIV/AIDS reporting system by FY 2013 (Becker, "The Caucus," New York Times, 10/21).
In 2006, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) signed into law a bill to move California from a code-based HIV/AIDS tracking system to a name-based system (California Healthline, 10/1).
This year's Ryan White extension also sets a national goal of conducting five million HIV tests annually (CQ Today, 10/21). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.