BILL NUMBER: AJR 17CHAPTERED BILL TEXT RESOLUTION CHAPTER 104 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 16, 2009 ADOPTED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 2009 ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2009 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2009 INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Swanson (Coauthors: Assembly Members Adams, Ammiano, Arambula, Bass, Beall, Tom Berryhill, Blumenfield, Brownley, Buchanan, Caballero, Charles Calderon, Carter, Chesbro, Conway, Cook, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon, DeVore, Emmerson, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fletcher, Fong, Fuentes, Furutani, Galgiani, Gilmore, Hagman, Hall, Hayashi, Hernandez, Hill, Huber, Huffman, Jeffries, Jones, Krekorian, Bonnie Lowenthal, Ma, Mendoza, Monning, Nava, John A. Perez, V. Manuel Perez, Portantino, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Skinner, Smyth, Solorio, Audra Strickland, Torlakson, Torres, Torrico, Tran, and Yamada) MAY 5, 2009 Relative to HIV/AIDS health disparities. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST AJR 17, Swanson. HIV/AIDS health disparities. This measure would urge the President of the United States, the United States Congress, and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to take specified actions in regards to health disparities, particularly as they relate to HIV/AIDS funding. WHEREAS, The devastating impact of HIV/AIDS in communities of color continues to grow, with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reporting that an estimated 71 percent of AIDS cases that were diagnosed as of the year 2006 occurred among ethnic and racial minorities; and WHEREAS, African Americans made up 13 percent of the United States population in the year 2000 Census, yet the CDC determined that African Americans accounted for 49 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in 2005; and WHEREAS, Of the estimated 18,849 people under 25 years of age diagnosed with HIV/AIDS during the years of 2001 to 2004, inclusive, 61 percent were African American. An estimated 79 percent of reported HIV cases for female adults and adolescents through 2005 were African American and Latino women; and WHEREAS, 178,585 cases of AIDS have been reported in California as of May 31, 2008; and WHEREAS, African Americans and Latinos in California have contracted HIV/AIDS at rates that are disproportionately higher than that of other minority populations in the state; and WHEREAS, Latinos have accounted for 28 percent of all HIV cases reported by name in California since April 2006; and WHEREAS, African Americans make up 6 percent of California's population, yet account for 19.4 percent of the state's HIV/AIDS living cases; and WHEREAS, African American women and Latino women in California have accounted for approximately 69 percent of all new HIV cases among women in the state since 2005; and WHEREAS, The National Black Caucus of State Legislators recognizes and is committed to solving the AIDS crisis in the United States and around the world; and WHEREAS, The Institute of Medicine (IOM) found that ethnic and racial minorities tend to receive lower-quality health care services and account for a greater share of the disease burden across a broad range of diseases, including, but not limited to, HIV/AIDS. The IOM also found that disparities in the quality of health care, including HIV care, are associated with higher death rates among ethnic and racial minorities; and WHEREAS, The IOM concluded that the lack of health insurance presents a major barrier to reducing health disparities, and approximately half of the uninsured Americans are racial and ethnic minorities, despite comprising only 37 percent of the population. In addition, the IOM determined that culturally and linguistically appropriate care can improve health outcomes and increase patient compliance with treatment plans; and WHEREAS, The United States Census Bureau projects that, by 2050, one-half of the United States' population will be persons of color; the unchecked impact of health disparities will rapidly cause our national experience with HIV/AIDS to assume epidemic proportions; and WHEREAS, The President of the United States, as an individual, and the United States Congress, as an institution, are in a position to redress the problem of health disparities and improve prevention and treatment services for HIV/AIDS; and WHEREAS, Since 1982, 30 medicines have been approved to treat HIV and related conditions; 92 new medicines and vaccines are currently in the pipeline, awaiting approval or in clinical trial phases; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the Assembly and the Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California urges the President to provide focused domestic leadership to reduce health disparities, particularly as they relate to HIV/AIDS; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California urges Congress to increase funding for state and local grant programs authorized by the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency Act of 1990, especially to ensure funding for initiatives that provide culturally and linguistically competent prevention and treatment programs; and be it further Resolved, That the Legislature of the State of California calls on the Congress and the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that AIDS Drug Assistance Program funding counts toward an individual's out-of-pocket contributions for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D, and to encourage the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidelines that require all states' Medicaid preferred drug lists provide prompt access to HIV/AIDS treatments that are consistent with established HIV treatment protocols; and be it further Resolved, That Congress is urged to increase funding to the United States Department of Health and Human Services and other relevant agencies, including, but not limited to, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Health Resources and Services Administration, to implement the CDC's National HIV Prevention Strategic Plan, to expand the Minority AIDS Initiative to provide additional support to minority-serving community-based organizations, to augment outreach through the mobilization of groups that include, but are not limited to, civic and social organizations, fraternities, and sororities, and HIV testing efforts to target racial and ethnic minorities that are at a higher risk of contracting HIV, to develop additional evidence-based HIV prevention interventions that target ethnic and racial minorities, and to improve HIV prevention and treatment services for ethnic and racial minorities; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, to each Senator and Representative from California, to the State Department of Public Health, the State Department of Health Care Services, and to the author for appropriate distribution.