The Early Treatment for HIV Act A Safety Net for HIV Patients

The Early Treatment for The Early Treatment for HIV ActHIV Act

A Safety Net for HIV PatientsA Safety Net for HIV Patients

Gabriel Seth KochManager of Policy & Federal AffairsCommunity Access National Network

[email protected](202)290-2019

mailto:[email protected]

ETHA

• What is ETHA legislatively?

• What has already been done?

• What still needs to be done?

Community Access National Network 1901 18th Street Northwest Washington D.C. 20009

(202) 290-2019 fax:(202) 560-6504 [email protected]

What is ETHA?

• The Early Treatment for HIV Act • First introduced 4/28/1999• H.R.1591 Title: To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit States the option to provide Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals infected with HIV.



Pelosi, Gephardt• Rep. Nancy Pelosi: "Early treatment for HIV can

extend and improve the lives of people with HIV disease, But, tragically, many people are going without this powerful and cost effective therapy. This legislation will extend access to the drug therapies and primary care that people with HIV should receive."

• Rep. Dick Gephardt: "We must take this important step to address the Catch-22 faced by thousands of low-income HIV-positive Americans who don't have health insurance. Medicaid should be providing them with the therapies that help keep them healthy and live longer, more productive lives."



Senator Torricelli (NJ)• Sen. Robert Torricelli: "This bill is simple

logic. It is a real step toward improving the quality of life for thousands of low-income people with HIV. This legislation eliminates a glaring flaw in the Medicaid program by allowing access to vital medical services."

• Fifty-nine other members of the House joined Gephardt and Pelosi as original cosponsors of the bill. Earlier the same month, the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS wrote the President urging his active support of the Early Treatment for HIV Act. (May 21, 1999)

• What happened?



H.R. 2063 ETHAJune 5, 2001

• Rep. Pelosi makes changes to the bill based on the Breast and Cervical Cancer treatment Act of 2000

• Receives 152 cosponsors in a little over 1 year

• Dies in the Energy and Commerce Health subcommittee



Why is it important to treat early?Quality of Life Improvements

• Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director of NIAID: “Increasingly, scientific evidence indicates that beginning treatment for HIV as early as possible in the course of infection has advantages for infected individuals, their partners and their communities. Early treatment appears to improve the odds of staying healthier longer. In addition, treatment can dramatically reduce the amount of HIV in blood and other bodily fluids, decreasing the chances of virus transmission. This is particularly important during the first weeks after infection, when the amount of virus circulating in untreated individuals is extremely high.”



Life of HIV Dr. Anthony Fauci

Community Access National Network 1901 18th Street Northwest Washington D.C. 20009 (202) 290-2019 fax:(202) 560-6504 [email protected]

Why is it important to treat early?Cost Savings and Efficiencies

• Treatment costs are 2.6 times higher per year at later stages of HIV disease

• Why?

• Additional ailments due to poor health, hospitalizations, unemployment, housing, transportation



What does 2.6 times more look like in real terms?

Cost Savings of Early Treatment

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

HIV

AIDS

Community Access National Network 1901 18th Street Northwest Washington D.C. 20009 (202) 290-2019 fax:(202) 560-6504 [email protected]

What have we done so far?

• Community coalescence• The House of Representatives• The Senate• Passage of Health Care Reform



HIV Healthcare Access Workgroup

under FAPP

• ETHA Fact Sheet

• Included in top 10 priorities for healthcare reform

• Organized numerous Hill visits



House of Representatives

• Reps. Eliot Engel and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen

• H.R. 1616 – Early Treatment of HIV Act of 2009

• Speaker Pelosi, Chair Waxman, Reps. McCotter, Bono Mack lead the charge

• 40 original cosponsors: 20 Dem 20 GOP

• Introduced on March 19, 2009Community Access National Network 1901 18th Street Northwest Washington D.C. 20009


House of RepresentativesTimeline

• March 09: Previous cosponsors on Energy and Commerce

• April 09: GOP Push

• June 09: Hit 100 Cosponsors, Included in Tri-Committee Discussion Draft• July 09: Included in Tri-Committee Final



How are we doing?A comparison between Congresses

• H.R 2063, 2001: 152 Cosponsors

• H.R. 3362, 2007: 168 Cosponsors

• H.R. 1616, 2009: 148 Cosponsors



Side note on NancyThe Speaker has only Cosponsored 4 serious bills:•H.R.1740 : To amend the Public Health Service Act to increase awareness of the risks of breast cancer in young women and provide support for young women diagnosed with breast cancer. •H.R.2920 : To reinstitute and update the Pay-As-You-Go requirement of budget neutrality on new tax and mandatory spending legislation, enforced by the threat of annual, automatic sequestration.•H.R. 290 : To support the goals and ideals of World AIDS Day.•H.R.1616 : To amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to permit States the option to provide Medicaid coverage for low-income individuals infected with HIV.

By comparison, Rep. Eliot Engel from NY has cosponsored 26 serious bills and Rep. Maurice Hinchey from NY has cosponsored over 700 bills.



http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d111:5:./temp/~bdaEi8::



SenateTimeline

• Nov 08: Clinton/Smith – the search for new leaders

• Jan 09: The Schumer/Snowe Connection• Apr 09: Meeting with the Finance Committee Members

• Apr 20, 09: S. 833 ETHA is introduced

• May 09: Push for Previous Cosponsors• June 09: New Members and Old House Members



How are we doing?A comparison between Congresses

• S. 987, 2001: 12 Cosponsors

• S. 860, 2007: 38 Cosponsors

• S. 833, 2009: 30 Cosponsors



Passage of Healthcare Reform

Health Reform Will:

∙Remove ‘Categorical Eligibility Requirements’ and allow pre-disabled HIV patients making up to 133% of the federal poverty level to access treatment through Medicaid by 2014



What do we have left to do? Bridge the Gap to Health Reform

Since reforms don’t take effect until 2014, ETHA can still pass on its own and bridge the gap. Enacting ETHA would:

∙Relieve Ryan White ADAP patients currently ineligible, freeing up funds to deal with waiting lists and allowing for greater ‘wrap-around’ services

∙Provide states with an ‘enhanced’ federal match, enabling state dollars spent on these patients to receive significant matches from federal dollars



What do we have left to do?The House of Representatives

•Push for more cosponsors!

•The Magic Number: 218



What do we have left to do?The Senate

•Push for more Cosponsors!

•The Magic number is: 51…

err sort of



To do more…

• Feel free to contact me if you are interested in getting more involved with your Congressional members

Gabriel Seth KochManager of Policy & Federal AffairsCommunity Access National [email protected](202) 290-2019

mailto:[email protected]

The Early Treatment for HIV Act A Safety Net for HIV Patients

Documents

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hiv disease

th street northwest

hivpositive americans

hiv acta safety net

cervical cancer treatment

lowincome individuals

thousands of lowincome