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HIV-Positive Renters in New York City Leaving Homes Because of Foreclosures, New York Times Reports

[Aug 26, 2008]

At least 50 HIV-positive renters in New York City have notified city housing organizations in the past few months that they had to leave their homes or have been evicted because of foreclosures and that they are having difficulty finding new homes, the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, although the exact number of families affected by the nationwide housing crisis is unclear, officials have said HIV-positive renters are in a "particular squeeze." Foreclosure rates in New York City have doubled between 2004 and 2007, according to a study by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. HIV-positive people face special difficulties when their rental homes go into foreclosure because of a lack of public funding to assist them and ineffective laws aimed at preventing landlords from discriminating against HIV-positive people, the Times reports. In addition, issues faced by HIV-positive tenants "begin long before the eviction date, when landlords with nothing else to lose stop paying the utilities," according to the Times.

The city's HIV/AIDS Services Administration provides rental assistance to HIV-positive people, and the City Council in March made it illegal for landlords to discriminate against rental applicants who receive federal, state and local housing assistance; however, the law applies only to buildings with six or more units and does not penalize people who violate it. In addition, although HASA provides assistance, people are expected to contribute 30% of their incomes to their housing costs but cannot be left with less than $330 monthly.

Sean Barry, co-director of the New York City AIDS Housing Network, said that HASA "pays 20% less" than the federal Section 8 housing program, adding, "If a landlord has multiple clients applying with Section 8 or HASA, they know they can play around with the regulations and get more money from Section 8." The city provides emergency housing to people living with HIV/AIDS who are evicted from their homes; however, the housing is intended to be temporary (Dembosky, New York Times, 8/26).

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City Funding Reaches Needle-Exchange Programs in Washington, D.C.

[Aug 26, 2008]

Funding for needle-exchange programs in Washington, D.C., is beginning to reach groups that run the programs eight months after Congress lifted a ban of city funding for needle-exchange programs, but it is unclear how effective the increased funding will be at reducing the spread of HIV in the district, the AP/Washington Times reports (Westley, AP/Washington Times, 8/24). City officials in January announced that the district would invest in needle-exchange programs to help prevent the spread of HIV among injection drug users in the city. The announcement came after President Bush signed a fiscal year 2008 omnibus spending bill (HR 2764) that effectively lifted a ban on city funding for needle-exchange programs in the district. Since 1999, the district had been the only U.S. city barred by federal law from using local funds for needle-exchange programs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 4/25).

According to the AP/Times, the district is allocating $700,000 annually for needle-exchange programs. The district has allocated $300,000 over three years, the largest share of funding, to the needle-exchange program PreventionWorks!. Needle-exchange programs aimed at commercial sex workers and homeless people also have received district funding, the AP/Times reports. According to a report released last year by the district's HIV/AIDS Administration, injection drug use is the second most common mode of HIV transmission in the city, following unprotected sex. There are about 10,000 IDUs living in the district, the AP/Times reports. The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has criticized needle-exchange programs, arguing that such programs increase spread of HIV because they do not curb risky behaviors associated with needle-sharing.

According to the AP/Times, the district has the highest HIV prevalence in the country, with one in 20 residents estimated to be living with HIV. Walter Smith, director of the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice, said, "There are multiple factors that have produced [the district's] high HIV/AIDS rate, and it will take multiple factors to bring it down." He added that there is "no silver bullet" to reduce the spread of the disease (AP/Washington Times, 8/24).

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New York Health Department To Decide Soon Whether Medicaid Beneficiaries With HIV/AIDS Should Be Moved Into Managed Care Plans

[Aug 26, 2008]

The New York State Department of Health in the next few weeks is expected to issue a final decision on whether to switch Medicaid beneficiaries with HIV/AIDS from fee-for-service plans to managed care plans, the AP/Long Island Newsday reports (AP/Long Island Newsday, 8/24). Since the late 1990s, the state's 65,000 people living with HIV/AIDS who are enrolled in New York's Medicaid program have been exempt from a statewide enrollment drive to place beneficiaries into managed care plans. About 10,000 HIV-positive beneficiaries were enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans as of late last year (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/3/07).

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