ADAP Stories: Michelle W

Hometown: Winton-Salem

Occupation: HIV/AIDS Advocate

What has the North Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program meant to you?

I’ve been on ADAP since 2008, and it has meant life support for me and my children.  It has enabled me to be here today; it has been a huge financial support and a source of stability and encouragement. 

When I was first diagnosed I had no hope. I was one of those who thought life was over the next day. I had no idea where I was going to be able to find financial or medical support. 

Once I was introduced to ADAP I realized there was hope. It gave me courage to go out and help others and teach others about these resources.

It gave my kids great hope as well; it let them know help was on the way. A sick parent can’t raise a child, but ADAP gave my kids a foundation to know that their mom was going to be okay. 

It’s important to preserve ADAP because our state will end up spending more money burying those who die because they don’t have access to medicine and providing foster care for the orphans left behind than they would on ADAP itself. 

We need to save lives, not take them. ADAP saves lives. 

Interview by Blaire Benson

This is one of a series of interviews highlighting the impact that the AIDS Drug Assistance Program has on the lives of people in North Carolina. If you would like to share your story, contact Claire at claire@ncaan.org. 

To take action to save the AIDS Drug Assistance Program from proposed budget cuts, send an email to your legislators now.

ADAP Stories: Glen

Glen gets ready to deliver postcards in support of ADAP
to Senator Austin Allran.

Hometown: Newton

Q: How has the North Carolina AIDS Drug Assistance Program affected you?

A: I am a person with HIV who lives in Newton NC. I work at a job that does not provide any health insurance and pays around ten bucks an hour. 
 
My doctor has me on three medications that are used to control my illness. Together, they cost over three thousand dollars a month if I were to purchase them at Wal-Mart or Walgreens. That is three times my take home pay. I can barely afford aspirin.
 
ADAP gets me these drugs at no charge which allows me to keep a full time job and pay my taxes. Without these drugs I would surely lose my strength, then get sick with weird illnesses which in turn would lead to very expensive treatments, at taxpayer expense, that would not prevent my inevitable death.  ADAP is a bargain.

This is one of a series of interviews highlighting the impact that the AIDS Drug Assistance Program has on the lives of people in North Carolina. If you would like to share your story, contact Claire at claire@ncaan.org. 

To take action to save the AIDS Drug Assistance Program from proposed budget cuts, send an email to your legislators now.

Cost-Cutting Measures May Cause Treatment Delays for PLWHA

According to a story from the News & Observer, a Medicaid panel is hearing options for extra budget cuts. These cuts may include a requirement for prior authorization for doctors to prescribe HIV/AIDS medication.

Over the summer, NCAAN worked hard advocating in the state legislature to make sure there was no requirement for prior authorization for people living with HIV/AIDS, and we succeeded.

However, the state budget requires more than $350 million in cuts. Further, because the federal government gives $2 to the state Medicaid program for every $1 made by the state, this means the actual cuts to the North Carolina state Medicaid program will total more than $1 billion. A Medicaid panel outlined where these cost-cutting measures would come from included a variety of things, including a requirement for prior authorization for HIV/AIDS medications.

Prior Authorization impedes access by requiring doctors to get authorization from Medicaid before prescribing these life-saving drugs. Studies show that prior authorization requirements significantly delay access to these life-saving medications. Any delay in treatment caused by these requirements threatens the lives and health of people living with HIV/AIDS. Treatment interruptions can also create drug-resistant strains of HIV. Also, A new UNC-led multinational study shows early treatment with HIV/AIDS medications may reduce transmission rates by up to 96%.

We need you to stand with NCAAN in opposing any prior authorization requirement for HIV/AIDS medications, and the threat it poses to people living with HIV/AIDS.