104th
Congress: Democratic Perspectives 103rd-107th
Congress Committee Activity Tragically, the AIDS epidemic has continued to expand since the CARE Act first became law in 1990. The epidemic has grown to now encompass urban, suburban and rural areas in every state across the nation. The reauthorization provides us an historic opportunity to ensure that the CARE Act is modified to meet the needs of the changing face of AIDS.
52% of AIDS cases reported nationally are now outside of the original 16 epicenters designated as `emergency metropolitan area'.
The AIDS epidemic is expanding most rapidly in rural areas of the country. Fully 17% of AIDS cases are now reported in small cities, towns and rural areas throughout the country.
To accurately reflect the changes in the AIDS epidemic and to effectively meet the needs of people living with AIDS, the formulas of the CARE Act must achieve more equitable distribution of funds. No longer is it acceptable for a Title I city to receive as much as four or five times the amount of funding as Title II areas of the country on a per case basis.
During sub-committee and full committee mark-up, I gave an example of how we in rural areas have been affected by these funding inequities. Recently, one of the sub-grantees of Ryan White funding in my congressional district received a phone call from a St. Louis man who has AIDS. This man, who is originally from my district and wanted to move back to take care of a friend who was dying from the disease, realized that this would be impossible when he learned of the substantially less amount of money he would receive for services in Arkansas than he would receive in St. Louis, a Title 1 area. The man stated that per client funding in St. Louis is around $3500; in the First District of Arkansas, per client funding is merely $617.
The funding formulas of the CARE Act contribute greatly to this disparity in service delivery.
BLANCHE LAMBERT LINCOLN.
104th
Congress: Democratic Perspectives
103rd-107th
Congress Committee Activity