Background:

The Ryan White Program is a federal program designed specifically for the care and treatment and support programs for people with HIV/AIDS in the United States. The program was first enacted in 1990.

The program has been reauthorized by Congress four times since first created (in 1996, 2000, 2006, and 2009) and is due to be reauthorized again in 2013 unless otherwise extended by Congress.

The Ryan White Program is a “payer of last resort” program that exists to provide coverage, care, and treatment, for those who have no other source of coverage or face coverage limits.

Funding for the Ryan White program is subject to Congressional appropriations each year. It is the third largest source of federal funding for HIV care in the U.S., after Medicare and Medicaid reaches more than half a million people with HIV each year. In addition to federal funding, some states and localities also provide funding to their Ryan White services (including through certain state matching funds requirements).

Part C of the Ryan White Program funds medical providers who deliver comprehensive medical care and treatment to people with HIV who have no other source for care.

Another vitally important program for HIV patients is the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), which is funded through Part B of the Ryan White Program. To learn more about ADAP, click here .

The Ryan White Program is administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS).

Resources:

The Health Resources Service Administration (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB)

Fact Sheet on the Ryan White Program (kff.org)

AAHIVM Advocacy:

HIV/AIDS Community Consensus document on Ryan White Reauthorization 2009
A policy document from AAHIVM, the Ryan White Working Group, the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership and the HIV advocacy community on the importance of reauthorization of the federal Ryan White Program.

Technical Fixes in Reauthorization of Ryan White Program 2009
A policy document from AAHIVM, the Ryan White Working Group, the Federal AIDS Policy Partnership and the HIV advocacy community on specific policy changes needed in reauthorizing the federal Ryan White Program.