Dallas County Health officials are pleading and begging with the state NOT to cut funding for HIV medications. Why? Because there's an epidemic of HIV/AIDS in Texas that places the State at number 4. The Senate subcommittee on Medicaid is recommending elimination of funding for HIV drugs for low income patients, some 14 thousand statewide. Zach Thompson is director of Dallas County Health and Human Services.

Thompson says his department serves more than 1800 HIV/AIDS patients, and 58 of them would lose their medication. Thompson; “They really need their medication and to totally make a statement that you're going to cut the funding, and you know that people will die because they're not getting medication, it's the hardest thing I've seen in all the years of dealing with the Legislative process.”

The Texas AIDS Drug Assistance Program needs Texas legislators to provide $19.2 million in funding for over 2,000 individuals living with HIV and AIDS “If they lose their medications they will lose their ability to fight off infection,and ultimately lose their lives,”said AIDS Services of Austin Executive Director Paul Scott.Sen. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, chairwoman of the Finance Subcommittee on Medicaid, said each item of the budget would be put into three categories in order to prioritize which programs would receive the additional money. Priority One would be the most important. The HIV drugs program fell into priority two. Sen. Judith Zaffirini, D-Laredo, in last week’s hearing said;

"It is my belief that when we vote on a priority like this we are basically making a decision regarding who lives and who dies."

There are more barriers between poor AIDS patients and drug treatment programs in Texas than there are in other states.One of the main problems in Texas is that the State limits patients to three prescriptions per month,which is not enough to keep them healthy. Another problem is that Texas limits the treatments to people with incomes of $16,000 or less.

For instance, Texas requires that AIDS patients make a $5 co payment per prescription, while California, Florida and New York do not. Texas has a limited number of pharmacies willing to fill the orders and that the State required central processing of prescriptions, meaning that patients had significant delays in getting the drugs. None of the above help the poor AIDs in this epidemic. The Texas Department of State Health Services expects a 14 percent growth in the number of people needing drug assistance over the next two years.

Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst has tasked another Senate subcommittee to find a $5 billion in new revenues to add to the budget by next week. He has said he expects "life-saving drugs will be included" in the final budget.

PROFILE OF THE EPIDEMIC

Texas reported 77,070 AIDS cases to CDC, cumulatively, from the beginning of the epidemic through December 2008. Texas ranked 4th highest among the 50 states in cumulative reported AIDS cases. More than 65000 people in Texas are known to have HIV:

• White, not Hispanic-(57.89% of the total case count.) 23,083
  
• African-American-(24.50% of the total case count.) 9,767
  
• Hispanic/Latino-(17.15% of the total case count.) 6,837
  
• Asian/Pacific Islander-(0.30% of the total case count.) 120
  
• American Indian/Alaskan Native-(0.14% of the total case count.)56
  
• Pediatric-0.75%
  
• Adolescent and Young Adults-5.67%
  
• Adults-93.58%