Q&A Highlights10/21/14

The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: What is its role now and where is it headed?

(Jeffrey S. Crowley)

# / Questions / Answers
As we’ve launched the Center, we have had a number of folks in the ASO/CBO community voice concern that Ryan White Program funding might disappear. Could you speak to this and discuss whether this is something organizations should be preparing for? / I can tell you that the administration has been consistent in voicing strong support for the Ryan White Program. The National HIV/AIDS Strategy, which was released a few months after the ACA was signed into law, specifically talks about the Ryan White Program and states that we’ll need the program after the ACA is fully implemented. Additionally, there has been bi-partisan support for the Ryan White Program in recent years, even amidst a climate of high partisanship.
Do you have any suggestions for how states expandingMedicaid should optimize services for people living with HIV through their use of Ryan White funding? And in states that are not expanding Medicaid forall adults up to 138% of the federal poverty line, are there any specific things that ASOs should be concerned about? / As a general point, we need two big things from the Ryan White Program. For people who are uninsured and have no other access to health care coverage, we need the Ryan White Program to be available to cover all their HIV health care needs. That will be the case in all states, regardless of whether they have expanded Medicaid. In states that have expanded, the pool of people who need Ryan White to support all of their medical needs will be greatly diminished. These states, such as Massachusetts, are using their Ryan White funds differently, e.g., copayment assistance, support services funding. Once primary medical needs are covered by insurance, Ryan White funding is freed up so that states can be strategic about how to address financial barriers and bolster support services.
Do you see a changing role for the AIDS Education and Training Centers (AETCs) in this new framework, and if so, how? / AETCsare important, and we do need to invest in training HIV providers. One thing I would ask the AETC training community is that with the changes in HIV/AIDS health care, are the models we previously had in place what we still need? We need to think about how we hold AETCs accountable and how we show what they’re accomplishing. We need to be thinking about who our AETCs are training and how we can measure the impact of this effort.
Are there state breakdowns available regarding the percentage of federal programs available in each given state? / The first place I would ask people to look is the Target Center at HRSA ( The Kaiser Family Foundation also runs a website There is an HIV section there that has info by state on Ryan White funding breakdowns.

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