Bill Text: CA AJR17 | 2009-2010 | Regular Session | Chaptered
Bill Title: HIV/AIDS health disparities.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 48-13)
Status: (Passed) 2009-09-16 - Chaptered by Secretary of State - Res. Chapter 104, Statutes of 2009. [AJR17 Detail]
Download: California-2009-AJR17-Chaptered.html
BILL NUMBER: AJR 17 CHAPTERED
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.
