Pelosi protests unexpected U.S. AIDS funds cut (SF Chron)

[pinto]

SAN FRANCISCO, SAN MATEO, MARIN
Pelosi protests unexpected U.S. AIDS funds cut
3 Bay Area counties face having to slash patient services

Sabin Russell, Chronicle Medical Writer

Wednesday, May 23, 2007



San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties stand to lose as much as $8.6 million a year in federal AIDS money as a result of a Bush administration funding formula sharply criticized by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Health officials said Tuesday they were stunned by the allocation of money for the next fiscal year under the Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act. The changes will result in sharp cuts in support services to AIDS patients and people with HIV, particularly in San Francisco.

Pelosi, D-San Francisco, sent a letter late Tuesday to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt demanding an explanation for the decision, which she said violates an agreement reached in January between the administration and congressional Democrats that would have kept AIDS programs in the three counties largely intact.

"The drastic nature of this cut will have a devastating impact on services that keep people living with HIV/AIDS in the Bay Area healthy,'' Pelosi wrote.

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http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/05/23/BAGKBPVTP81.DTL&type=politics

[William769]

1. "violates an agreement |" what? That has never happened!

:sarcasm: