Date: Monday, May 20, 1996
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: HRSA Press Office (301)443-3376

CLINTON ADMINISTRATION AWARDS $350 MILLION IN GRANTS FOR HIV SERVICES UNDER THE RYAN WHITE CARE ACT

President Clinton today announced the award of $350 million in Ryan White CARE Act grants to complete FY 1996 funding to cities and states to provide emergency medical and support services for low-income or uninsured Americans living with HIV and AIDS. With partial awards made earlier in the fiscal year, this brings the total amount of awards made under Titles I and II of the CARE Act in FY 1996 to $569 million.

The President made the announcement as he signed the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act Amendments of 1996.

"This money is a lifeline of support for the thousands of men, women and children across this country who struggle, day to day, with the virus in their body," President Clinton said.

The grants announced today include:

• Title I formula and supplemental grants totaling $235 million for 49 eligible metropolitan areas (EMAs) for the rest of FY 1996. A list of the EMAs and grant amounts follow.
• Title I formula and supplemental awards of $5 million to seven new EMAs for the first part of FY 1996. (While 42 already-established EMAs received partial formula and supplemental grants earlier in the fiscal year, the seven new EMAs could not be funded until the FY 1996 budget was passed.)

Title I grants include both formula grants and competitive supplemental grants, which are awarded based on applications demonstrating additional critical needs. Funds pay for such services as medical and dental care, prescription drugs, transportation, case management, counseling and home and hospice care for underinsured and uninsured Americans living with HIV. A list of the seven new EMAs and their grant awards follow.

• Title II formula grants of $110 million to all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam to complete Title II funding for FY 1996. The states, like the cities, received partial funding earlier in the fiscal year.
• Title II grants are used to provide home and community-based care, assistance in continuing private health insurance coverage, and treatments and drugs that prolong life and/or prevent hospitalization. A list of these grants follows.

President Clinton also announced the availability of $52 million in FY 1996 funds to states for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which will help states increase the number of HIV patients receiving drugs, including combination therapies and new drugs, and help pay for their increasing costs. The funds will be distributed within 30 days.

Under the reauthorized CARE Act, the Congress revised the formulas for calculating Title I and II grant amounts to reflect changes in the epidemic since 1990.

Since 1991, when the first CARE Act grants were awarded, nearly $2.8 billion in federal funds has been appropriated under all four titles of the Act, providing care to more than 500,000 low-income Americans living with HIV and AIDS.

The CARE Act is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the Department of Health and Human Services.

NOTE: Charts available by calling the telephone number above.