Time’s Running Out for AIDS Patients Getting Help From the State
Earlier this year, Governor Tim Pawlenty used his unallotment power to balance the state’s budget — by eliminating funding for a host Minnesota’s healthcare and human services programs, including the General Assistance Medical Care program, which funds healthcare for many of the state’s poorest citizens.
Funding for the $381 million program is set to run out soon, unless legislators can build a bipartisan coalition to override the governor’s veto or find a compromise that both governor and legislature, DFL and GOP can agree on. MinnPost has a good – if extremely long – summary of the program and the impact of its closure.
The story, however, leaves out many people living with HIV/AIDS, who receive care from a number of organizations across the state. According to Gwen Velez, the Executive Director of the African-American AIDS Task Force, around two-thirds of her clients get support from GAMC. When the program ends, they’ll all be out of critical medicine and psychological care.
From MinnPost:
“There’s interest in moving forward,” said House Assistant Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, “but it’s going to be like threading a really small needle to find something we can afford that provides the care for people who are sick and to make sure there’s a financial cushion for providers who care for them.”
Senate Health Finance Division Chair Linda Berglin, DFL-Minneapolis, has held a few work sessions with affected parties and legislators. “We’re working very hard to try to figure something out,” she said. “The question is whether the governor is going to be interested in having GAMC get fixed or not because no matter how many ideas we have about reform we don’t get enough savings to buy back a program that would be even half of the size.”
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