CHARLESTON, SC NEWS - LIVE 5 WCSC Breaking News, Weather, SportsLifeline of care may snap for some

Lifeline of care may snap for some

By Bob Behanian  bio | email

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - As state legislators scramble to find ways to pay for health care programs that would be trimmed, or even eliminated, in the state's $5 billion budget, people that receive aid from these programs are anxiously awaiting their fate.

Already, the SC House voted to trim $5.9 million in HIV/AIDS funding, which would completely eliminate state-managed fiscal support associated with the programming. If the measure passes, South Carolina would be the first state to eliminate its entire HIV/AIDS budget.

Included in the prescribed cuts is the state's AIDS Drug Assisted Program, a program that pays for the AIDS cocktail of drugs for the state's poorest residents, and the state's HIV/AIDS prevention budget.

Without the state funding, matched funding from the federal level is also in jeopardy, said Lori Yeghiayan with the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in a release Tuesday.
The group is organizing a rally on the north side of the State House for AIDS activists, patients and medical care providers. The hope of the group is to convince legislators to reinstate funding for the state's AIDS programs.
Kevin Lumley, for one, hopes the group's message is heard and the funding is reinstated for ADAP. As a two-year member of ADAP, his life has seen a drastic improvement. When he joined in December, 2008, he admits his outlook was bleak.
"I had seven grand mal seizures, double pneumonia and brain encephalitis," said Lumley.

The ADAP program helped him pay for medication, offered a support group and assigned him a case manager. The results were staggering.

"I have a whole lot more strength.  I've got a lot more of my body mass back," added Lumley.

He admits he would likely be dead if the ADAP program didn't exist.

The pills, support group and case manager would likely fade away without state or federal funding. And the AIDS Healthcare Foundation says the health concerns cannot take a back seat to budgetary shortfalls, especially in HIV/AIDS programs. According to the South Carolina HIV/AIDS Care Crisis Task Force, there are more than 14,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the state and nearly 3,000 of them rely on government funds for their medication.
Meanwhile, some legislators were hoping federal aid for health care programs would be approved before the House begins its budget debate in a couple of weeks so the state doesn't have to cut health care spending.
"This is truly a matter of life or death for the thousands of people who depend upon the state to provide the lifesaving medications that enable them to lead healthy, productive lives. HIV medications can also reduce the level of infectiousness and prevent transmission of HIV from one person to another," said Dr. Bambi Gaddist, Chair of the task force.
That's what Ashley Redmond fears most. She runs the Ryan White program at St. Francis Hospital and says state budget cuts will hurt people like Lumley.

"They are going to go to their doctor, the doctor will write them a prescription but they won't be able to get their medication," said Redmond. "If funding for the program is cut, there will be an increase in hospitalization visits, people are going to be sicker and they won't be able to work."

Lawmakers have proposed a second measure to reinstate nearly $2 million of the budget, but AIDS groups say that's not enough in a state that ranks eighth in nation in the rate of new AIDS cases. Columbia ranks ninth in the nation in the rate of AIDS.

Michael Weinstein, the President of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, called the move by state lawmakers a move with "grim national implications."

As funding shortages nationwide affect ADAP services, more people are being placed on waiting lists to receive assistance, said the release from the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. The group says there are over 550 people on ADAP waiting lists across 11 states and continued budget cuts ahve left the programs stretched thin.

Based on proposed legislation, patients currently enrolled in ADAP will still receive their medicine. New patients will have to go through a lengthy patient assistant program, which will put them on those quickly growing waiting lists.

As activists are poised to march on the State House, lawmakers are in the precarious position of caring for the state's thousands of sick and creating a usable, balanced budget. Whether an accord is met is still to be determined, but the hope on both sides is to be heard.

"I don't feel like we are getting the representation a lot of times from our government," said Lumley.

Sam Tyson contributed to this report.

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