For 4,200 people in the state, it will soon be easier to get HIV medications through the Illinois AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).
Fewer people with HIV will run the risk of losing their access to medicines because of cumbersome application and paperwork requirements, thanks to a series of rule changes advocated by AIDS Legal Council of Chicago and AIDS Foundation of Chicago (and approved recently by the Illinois Department of Public Health). This comes as especially good news to the many who had reported difficulties navigating the online application process and having to repeatedly submit documentation to qualify for help.
Low-income people with HIV who are uninsured or underinsured obtain life-saving HIV medications through ADAP. Although the program has been stressed in recent years due to falling state revenues and an influx of people turning to ADAP for help, preserving regular access to medications is considered key to suppressing the virus in people with HIV and reducing the likelihood of further transmission to uninfected partners.
Among the new rules to be adopted, ADAP will no longer require existing recipients to fill out an entirely new application every six months, opting for a much less burdensome process of "recertification" instead.
