Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 4785 - AIDS Prevention Act of 1990

(House)
(Waxman (D) CA)

The Administration supports helping needy Americans afflicted with AIDS and other diseases gain access to health care and in providing assistance to areas disproportionately affected by this and other diseases. However, the Administration has budgetary and programmatic concerns with H.R. 4785.

For the following reasons, the Administration objects to passage of H.R. 4785, as reported by the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

The Federal Government will pay an estimated $870 million during Fiscal Year 1991 in HIV/AIDS health care costs through Medicaid. The proposed $800 million per year grant programs contained in H.R. 4785 are not carefully targeted to the neediest individuals and would not be an efficient use of scarce resources.

Additionally, the narrow disease-specific approach of H.R. 4785 runs counter to the government's existing health care financing system. Disease-specific approaches run the risk of giving existing health care payors (e.g., States, insurance companies, and localities) the incentive to limit coverage for the disease being given special treatment. This is exactly the opposite of the goal we all seek to achieve.

Federal health care financing targets assistance first to those most in need. New grant programs should adhere to that policy while not discouraging Federal/State/local/private treatment financing programs from continuing to serve financially needy individuals.