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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, There are nearly 30,000 Illinoisans living with
3 HIV/AIDS and most struggle to obtain adequate basic health
4 care, stable housing, and food; and
 
5     WHEREAS, The federal Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS
6 Resources Emergency (CARE) Act has been critical to meeting
7 these needs in Illinois; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The State, city of Chicago, and private providers
9 currently receive more than $35,000,000 annually to provide
10 counseling services, primary health care, dental care, mental
11 health services, substance abuse services, drug reimbursement,
12 legal services, nutrition counseling, and food; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Congress created the Ryan White CARE Act in 1990
14 and it must be reauthorized every 5 years, this year Congress
15 must reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act by September 30, 2005;
16 and
 
17     WHEREAS, Some in Congress would refocus the Ryan White CARE
18 Act to allow only medically related services, eliminating
19 services such as legal assistance, housing support, and food;
20 and
 
21     WHEREAS, Without legal assistance, housing support,
22 nutrition counseling, and food, Illinoisans living with
23 HIV/AIDS will be unable to adhere to their complex medical
24 regimens, unable to sustain their health, and die; and
 
25     WHEREAS, The sick will be forced into hospitals for complex
26 and expensive health care paid for by U.S. Medicaid and the
27 State, and the State will pay for more intensive and expensive
28 health interventions than the Ryan White CARE Act provides; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Private and non-profit organizations throughout
2 the State have created effective and efficient services to help
3 people living with HIV/AIDS obtain health care, secure stable
4 housing, address mental health and substance abuse, and support
5 medical regimens through quality and nutritious food; and
 
6     WHEREAS, The organizations' efforts, funded primarily
7 through the Ryan White CARE Act, will be jeopardized;
8 therefore, be it
 
9     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
10 NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
11 we urge the Congress of the United States of America to
12 reauthorize the Ryan White CARE Act this year in its current
13 format, with its current language, and with its current funding
14 under local control for supportive services such as legal
15 assistance, housing support, and food; and be it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That suitable copies of this resolution be
17 delivered to the President pro tempore of the U.S. Senate, the
18 Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the Secretary of
19 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Governor Rod
20 Blagojevich, and each member of the Illinois congressional
21 delegation.