House Reauthorizes Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Sends Measure To Obama

Main Category: HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 23 Oct 2009 - 5:00 PDT

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The House on Wednesday voted 408-9 to approve legislation (S 1793) that would reauthorize the Ryan White Program, which provides health care services and other assistance to low-income people living with HIV/AIDS, CQ Today reports. The program is scheduled to expire on Oct. 30.

The measure -- which the Senate passed by voice vote on Monday -- would authorize $2.35 billion in funding for fiscal year 2010, with slight increases each year through FY 2013, capping at $2.7 billion. In a change from previous legislation, the bill does not include a sunset provision.

Under the legislation, states would have to track HIV cases by name rather than code by 2012. Some states currently track HIV/AIDS cases with codes or numbers for privacy reasons. In addition, the bill would set a goal of conducting five million annual HIV tests nationwide (McCarthy/Ethridge, CQ Today, 10/21). The bill also includes a provision to prevent funding decreases in communities that experience relative drops in the number of HIV/AIDS cases (Becker, "The Caucus," New York Times, 10/21).

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) said that lawmakers "didn't see eye to eye" on the details of the bill but that they "all agree that the HIV/AIDS epidemic isn't a partisan issue and that the Ryan White program must continue."

President Obama is expected to sign the bill (CQ Today, 10/21).

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