Proposed ADAP Cost-Sharing Threatens the Health of Californians Living with HIV/AIDS

Faced with a projected $9 billion state budget deficit in Fiscal Year 2012-13, Governor Brown proposed significant changes in funding for California’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) in his January budget, including steep cost-sharing fees which will impact half of the program’s 42,000 low-income beneficiaries. The new fees would for the first time require ADAP beneficiaries with incomes between 101 and 400 percent of Federal Poverty Level (FPL) to pay out of pocket before they could access ADAP’s life-saving HIV/AIDS drug regimens. The individuals affected have incomes between $10,891 and $43,560 annually. Additionally, ADAP beneficiaries with incomes between $43,561 and $50,000 annually who already make monthly cost-sharing payments would be required to pay substantially more to remain in ADAP.