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September 2003 On Monday, September 8, the National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA) Coalition, for which AIDS Action serves as the convener, held its monthly meeting. The meeting’s discussion topic was the upcoming 2005 reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act. Dr. Laura Cheever, acting deputy associate administrator and Idalia Sanchez, director of the Office of Policy and Program Development, at the HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) served as the meeting's featured speakers, focusing on HAB’s plans for the reauthorization process and the timeline for these activities. During their presentation, Dr. Cheever and Ms. Sanchez shared that HRSA’s reauthorization work is currently focused on four key areas: 1) addressing emerging needs; 2) ensuring quality of care; 3) providing for coordination of care; and 4) program evaluation. Between now and the end of 2003, HRSA will be working to complete a series of studies and evaluations as mandated in the 2000 reauthorization. Following completion of these studies and evaluations, HRSA will draft a legislative proposal for consideration by the Secretary’s office between January and May of 2004. As part of this process, HAB is endeavoring to get as much input as possible from the community this fall. The CDC/HRSA Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention and Treatment will hold three public meetings in September and October, and HRSA will also be meeting with consumers at the U.S. Conference on AIDS next week. Following
Dr. Cheever and Ms. Sanchez’s presentation, meeting participants
engaged in a discussion about the CARE Act and its 2005 reauthorization.
Among the issues of concern raised by coalition members and responded
to by the two presenters were the fiscal crisis in the AIDS Drug
Assistance Program (ADAP); the possibility of block granting CARE
Act Programs; the impact that the Early Treatment for HIV Act
(ETHA) could have on the CARE Act, the yearly evaluation and reporting
requirements, and the emerging need for vocational services for
people living with HIV. |
