I do hereby declare my endorsement of H.R. 2736 the HIV Emergency Local Partnership Act of 2007. H.R. 2736 amends the Public Service Act to authorize grants to provide comprehensive HIV/AIDS services to racial and ethnic minorities.
Since AIDS was first reported there have been half a million deaths due to AIDS and over 1.7 million people diagnosed with the disease. Over seventy percent of the cumulative AIDS cases can be found in ten states and territories of the United States. The disease has had disproportionate effects on ethnic minorities especially the African American and Latino communities which are statistically the top two racial/ethnic groups largely impacted by this epidemic. African Americans account for 500,000 of the HIV reported cases and Latinos account for 200,000. There is no coincidence that the top ten states and territories also have large African American and Latino populations.
The proposed bill will establish a pilot grant program that will encourage qualified community health entities to not only provide services in minority communities, but also to provide services at the local level in high risk communities. This pilot program will establish $50 million of new grant money to the Ryan White authorization and will be directed to no less than 5 states and territories that have the highest concentrations of HIV/AIDS cases. The legislation also calls for an analysis of the effectiveness of this new grant program to be submitted in a report from the Secretary of HHS. It will also provide an extension of Minority HIV/AIDS Initiatives funding as a transition measure for community based organizations to continue to provide services and be reimbursed for those services.
Lastly, the bill addresses the AIDS crisis in part faced by health care service providers in Puerto Rico. It is time that Puerto Rico be seen and treated as a part of the United States and receive equal opportunity as fellow American citizens. The Act asserts that Medicaid cap limitations which are applicable to Puerto Rico will not apply to the funds to be used for medical assistance for HIV/AIDS patients.
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