Executive Summary: Progress Report

programs are not consistent with current knowledge regarding the impact of such programs
on HIV prevention. Further, the Council supports increased priority for behavioral research
and rapid distribution of key findings to front-line HIV prevention programs.
Services:
The Council is pleased with the Administration's continued support for increased
funding for the Ryan White CARE Act. In particular, we applaud the Administration's
leadership role in securing a $105 million increase in funding for FY 1996. However, while
the President's FY 1997 budget recognizes the continued need for increased AIDS funding, it
still does not adequately respond to the growing need for services. Of particular concern to
the Council is the Administration's failure to acknowledge in its FY 1997 budget the urgent
need for increased funding for AIDS-specific housing through the Housing Opportunities for
People with AIDS (HOPWA) Program. Since a growing proportion of people living with
HIV/AIDS are homeless or at risk for homelessness, and the needs of this population
continue to grow more complex, the Administration must make AIDS housing a higher
priority.
The Council commends the President for his consistent leadership in defending the
Medicaid program, which is the sole source of health care for nearly 50 percent of PWAs.
The Administration has also taken a number of initial steps to develop national guidelines for
managed care and Statewide Medicaid waivers, and is committed to using its limited
administrative authority to encourage States to offer the broadest possible range of
HIV/AIDS services and therapies through the Medicaid program. The Council urges the
establishment of more formal managed care guidelines; rejection of managed care waiver
applications that provide inadequate care for persons with HIV/AIDS; and the development
of policy guidance related to coverage of the newly approved protease inhibitors. The
Council cannot overemphasize the importance of the Administration's continued vigilance in
this area, as well as in the area of health care provider training and education.
Discrimination:
The Administration's approach in this area has paradoxically been both notably strong
and notably weak. The Administration's enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
and the President's public words opposing discrimination based on HIV, race, sexual
orientation, and other factors have been valuable and important. The Council particularly
commends the President's real leadership in overturning the malicious Dornan Amendment,
which would have expelled service members with HIV from the military and denied medical
benefits to their families. We also strongly commend his support for the Employment NonDiscrimination Act, which would forbid employment discrimination based on sexual
orientation. The Council is profoundly concerned, however, that despite the
Administration's positive words, the Federal Government is itself engaged in officially
sanctioned HIV/AIDS-related employment discrimination in some departments. Thus, while
we commend the Administration for reversing the policy of mandatory HIV testing and
discrimination in the Job Corps, we urge the Administration to move swiftly to eliminate
similar programs in the military, the State Department, and the Foreign Service, and to