Associated Press - Monday, November 10, 2003

The number of people with HIV or AIDS in Kentucky is growing, and more of them have low incomes that make them eligible for the Kentucky AIDS Drug Assistance Program, said Michael Logsdon of Louisville.

Logsdon, 42, a member of the state's HIV/AIDS Advisory Council, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1997.

"There's going to be more people die if they don't come up with more money," said Logsdon, who used to receive drugs through the program before he became eligible for federal disability aid.

The state program gets 98 percent of its funding from the federal government. It serves about 700 people but has a waiting list of about 140.

The 25-member advisory council, which includes AIDS patients, physicians, public health officials, citizens and others, recommended in September that the state raise its level of funding.

The state has not increased the $90,000 a year it puts into the program since 1996.

The council's recommendation doesn't specify an amount, but it would take about $1.2 million a year to pay for the additional 140 people at the average per-patient cost of $8,760 per year.

Lawmakers concede that other fiscal problems make it unlikely any more will be allocated for the AIDS program when the next legislative session begins in January.

"This session gives me the most concern of any session I've had to approach," said state Sen. Gerald Neal, D-Louisville, who sponsored legislation creating the AIDS advisory council. "There's not going to be enough money."

The medicine that the program pays for can cost more than $1,000 per month. Though some AIDS patients are able to get drugs temporarily through clinics or drug companies that help low-income patients, advocates worry the system won't be able to keep helping the growing number of people in need.

Kentucky began its waiting list for AIDS medications in June 2002.

The average wait is six to nine months, said Lisa Daniel, who oversees the program for the Health Services Cabinet. Five people on the waiting list have died since it was started, but all five had been able to get medicine temporarily through other sources and three died of causes other than AIDS, such as cancer, Daniel said.

Patients are eligible for the program if they are at or below 300 percent of the federal poverty level -- about $27,000 a year for a single person -- and have no other way to pay for drugs, such as insurance or Medicaid.

In Kentucky, 2,113 people are living with AIDS, according to a Health Services report in June. Far more are thought to have HIV, the precursor to AIDS.

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