BILL ANALYSIS
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AJR 9
Author: John A. Perez (D), et al
Amended: 4/20/09 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE : 8-0, 5/20/09
AYES: Alquist, Strickland, Aanestad, DeSaulnier, Leno,
Negrete McLeod, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cedillo, Cox, Maldonado
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 76-0, 4/20/09 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act
of 2006
SOURCE : AIDS Project Los Angeles
DIGEST : This resolution urges the United States Congress
and the President to enact legislation to extend the sunset
of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Modernization Act of
2006 from September 30, 2009 to September 30, 2012.
ANALYSIS :
Existing federal law establishes the Ryan White HIV/AIRDS
Treatment Modernization Act of 2006 (Ryan White Act),
administered by the United States Department of Health and
Human Services, Health Resources and Services
Administration, to provide HIV/AIDS care for those who do
CONTINUED
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not have sufficient health care coverage or financial
resources for coping with HIV disease. The Ryan White Act
provides funding through states, localities, and providers
for primary health care, drugs, and support services.
Existing state law requires health care providers and
clinical laboratories to report cases of HIV infection to
local health officers (LHOs) using patient names, and
requires LHOs to report unduplicated HIV cases by name to
the Department of Public Health.
This resolution urges the United States Congress and the
President to enact legislation to extend the sunset of the
Ryan White Act from September 30, 2009 to September 30,
2012, including the existing formula-based funding for
states with maturing names-based HIV reporting systems.
This resolution states that such an extension will protect
Ryan White funding for California, preserve existing
systems of treatment, care, and other vital services for
people living with HIV/AIDS, and ensure that California and
other states have sufficient time to mature their
names-based HIV case reporting systems.
Background
According to the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership Ryan White
Work Group (Work Group), a nationwide group of HIV policy
experts, the 2006 reauthorization of the Ryan White Act
included many significant changes, including changing the
distribution formulas from estimated living AIDS cases to
actual living HIV and AIDS cases, a core services
requirement, and provisions regarding funds that are not
obligated. The HIV/AIDS advocacy community and others have
not yet been able to evaluate the effects of these changes,
as sufficient data are not currently available. The Work
Group also states the HIV/AIDS community is engaged in the
development of a national AIDS strategy. The Work Group
recommends a minimum three-year extension of the Ryan White
Act as a prudent course of action in order to maintain
health stability for persons living with HIV/AIDS while the
larger issues of our nation's health care system and a
national strategic plan for HIV/AIDS prevention, care and
treatment are developed, assessed and analyzed.
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FISCAL EFFECT : Fiscal Com.: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/20/09)
AIDS Project Los Angeles (source)
AIDS Services Foundation Orange County
Altamed Health Services Corporation
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
Bienestar Human Services, Inc.
California Communities United Institute
Center for AIDS Research, Education, and Services
City of Los Angeles AIDS Coordinator's Office
GlaxoSmithKline
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Sierra Foothills AIDS Foundation
Sonoma County Commission on AIDS
Southern California HIV Advocacy Coalition
Tri-City Health Center
OPPOSITION : (Verified 5/20/09)
AIDS Healthcare Foundation
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : AIDS Project Los Angeles, the
sponsor of this bill, and a number of supporters write that
extending the Ryan White Act would free up time and energy
in Washington for developing a comprehensive national AIDS
strategy and health care reform, and most importantly, that
an extension will give California more time to mature its
names-based HIV case reporting system. The County of Los
Angeles writes that an extension of the Ryan White Act will
preserve and possibly increase funding for Los Angeles
County, as well as allow the county to continue to develop
HIV data over the next three years, which would maximize
the County's competitiveness for Ryan White funding. The
AIDS Services Foundation Orange County (ASF) writes in
support that, although California's names-based reporting
system is two years old, it has not had sufficient time to
fully capture and reliably report all HIV cases in
California. ASF writes that since federal funding is
allocated using HIV/AIDS case data, additional time is
needed to mature California's reporting system so that
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funding corresponds correctly with size and scope of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in California. ASF further writes that a
change in the Ryan White Act, while the California HIV
reporting system is still ramping up, would jeopardize
federal funding and threaten to destabilize local systems
of care.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : Writing in opposition, AIDS
Healthcare Foundations (AHF) writes that, while they are
eager to see Congress delay implementation of the new
funding allocation until California's data has had a chance
to properly mature, this resolution fails to recognize that
there are issues of state and national importance that must
be addressed in a reauthorization of the Ryan White Act.
AHF is concerned that the Act does not go far enough to
normalize HIV care, make HIV screening routine and improve
linkages to care. AHF states that the Act does not
currently provide a practical means for California and
other states to pursue these goals, and that Congress needs
to explore other issues that are less relevant to
California's needs but which must be addressed for the
health of people in other states. AHF will support this
resolution if its message to Congress was solely pertinent
to delaying the names-based funding allocation formula.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Adams, Ammiano, Anderson, Arambula, Beall, Bill
Berryhill, Tom Berryhill, Blakeslee, Block, Blumenfield,
Brownley, Caballero, Carter, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis,
De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Duvall, Emmerson, Eng,
Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Fuller, Furutani,
Gaines, Galgiani, Garrick, Gilmore, Hagman, Harkey,
Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries,
Jones, Knight, Krekorian, Lieu, Logue, Bonnie Lowenthal,
Ma, Mendoza, Miller, Monning, Nava, Nestande, Niello,
Nielsen, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino,
Price, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Silva, Skinner, Smyth,
Solorio, Audra Strickland, Swanson, Torlakson, Torres,
Torrico, Tran, Villines, Yamada, Bass
NO VOTE RECORDED: Buchanan, Charles Calderon, Chesbro,
Hall
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CTW:do 5/21/09 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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