Utah’s ADAP Closes Enrollment Due to Insufficient Federal Funding, Officials Say

Utah's AIDS Drug Assistance Program will stop accepting new applicants because of insufficient federal funding, officials said on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports. "Due to both an increased caseload of those who are eligible for the programs as well as an increase in the costs of medications, insurance premiums and medical services, the program is unable to accept additional clients and needs as much as $800,000 just to maintain services at the current level," Jana Kettering, spokesperson for the state Department of Health, said (Associated Press, 7/28). The programs under Utah's ADAP all were funded under a $3.2 million federal grant from the Health Resources Services Association. The funding was expected to last until March 2005. "We expect to be re-funded in March, but we have no way of knowing if it will be funded at a level to help us take new clients," Kettering said. Currently, there are 1,803 HIV-positive people living in Utah, and 750 of them receive ADAP services (Collins, Deseret Morning News, 7/29). Kettering said that while the state is considering reallocating funds or changing services, those currently enrolled will continue to receive assistance. "These are tough decisions, but ones that need to be made," Dr. Kristen Ries, medical director of infectious diseases at the University of Utah and member of the advisory committee that recommended closing enrollment, said, adding, "The program needs to be fiscally responsible in order to keep running" (Associated Press, 7/28). The number of people on waiting lists for enrollment in ADAPs has increased nationwide from 1,263 in April to 1,629 in June, according to a report released last month by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. ADAPs in Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, North Carolina, South Dakota and West Virginia have waiting lists and/or access restrictions (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 6/30).