Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1999. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
The Chicago Tribune - April 02, 1999
Jeremy Manier, Tribune Staff Writer
Maximum payments will rise from $1,000 to $2,000 per month, effective immediately, for the approximately 1,700 individuals enrolled in the assistance program, which receives most of its funding from the federal government.
The increase lifts benefits past a crucial level, advocates say, because the multidrug cocktails that have revolutionized AIDS care can easily cost more than the $12,000 per year allowed under the old cap. Most cocktail regimens cost between $11,000 and $14,000 per year, though the most expensive combinations can approach the new $24,000 limit.
"This is great," said Mark Ishaug, executive director of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, an advocacy group. "Many people without resources depend on this program literally for their lives."
One reason for the change, officials said, is that many doctors have started giving patients more drugs at once--often adding to the three-drug combination that has become standard treatment for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. But though giving patients four different drugs can prevent HIV from developing resistance to the regimen, it also drives up costs.
"As additional drugs come on the market, we will adjust the program to meet the changing needs of clients," said Dr. John R. Lumpkin, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, which administers the AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
The class of anti-HIV drugs called protease inhibitors has been largely responsible for the precipitous drop in deaths from AIDS in recent years. In 1997, the last full year for which statistics are available, AIDS fatalities stood at 569 in Illinois, about half of the peak year of 1995.
Yet such dramatic figures also carry a hidden cost, experts say. The number of people getting infected with HIV has not dropped and current therapies require that new patients take the drug cocktail for life.
"The good news is that people are not dying," Ishaug said. "The other news is the demand for services is higher than ever."
Most funding for the drug assistance program comes from the federal Health Resources Services Administration, which will contribute $14 million of the projected $21 million budget Gov. George Ryan proposed for fiscal year 2000. The state picks up the remaining $7 million.
The program is intended for patients who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but do not have independent or employer-provided insurance. Eligible individuals must earn less than 400 percent of the poverty level, or about $32,960 for a single person.
Illinois' drug assistance compares favorably with states such as Wisconsin, which cuts off benefits for patients who make 200 percent of the poverty level.
Yet Illinois pales beside places such as New York and California, each of which spend more than $100 million annually on their AIDS drug efforts. Neither of those states has any spending cap on drug assistance for most patients.
Part of the difference can be explained by the greater number of HIV cases in those locales--approximately 150,000 in each case, compared with about 38,000 in Illinois.
Tom Schafer, a spokesman for the Illinois Public Health Department, said the current spending cap should not hinder treatment. It also could keep the drug program from sinking quickly into debt in case another group of even more expensive drugs is released and the state requires time to raise the funds needed to pay for them.
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