HIV and Ryan White in Louisiana
April 29, 2014
Over 13,000 people in Louisiana depend on Ryan White to provide life-sustaining HIV treatment and
prevention services that they could not otherwise access.
HIV is a serious and growing problem in Louisiana.
 16,892 people are living with diagnosed HIV/AIDS.1
 The state ranks 11th in the nation for deaths from HIV.2
 Louisianans are still becoming infected with HIV at the 2nd-highest rate in the nation. In
2011 alone, 1,376 were newly diagnosed.3
Number of People
Ryan White services are uniquely tailored to keep people in care.
 When people with HIV receive treatment, they can live active, healthy lives.
 When they are disconnected from care, they can develop resistance to medications that were
working for them and experience a rise in viral load that makes it much easier to transmit
HIV. Moreover, HIV is still deadly without treatment.4
 Ryan White recognizes this by providing services all along the “treatment cascade,” such as:
o Testing to identify people with HIV and outreach to connect them to care,
o Case management to keep them in care,
o Transportation to doctors’ appointments, which is particularly key in the rural South,
o Life-sustaining medications, through the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP),
o Treatment adherence counseling, which is one of many Ryan White services not
covered by most private insurance plans.5

With its unique set of services, Ryan White works. While only 25% of people nationwide have
a viral load that is effectively suppressed,6 70% of Ryan White Program clients reporting data
who received RW-funded medical care have achieved viral suppression.7
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Louisianans depend on Ryan White.
 An estimated 13,458 Louisianans received services through Ryan White in 2011.
o 70% were living at or below the poverty line.8
o Since Ryan White is legally required to be the “payer of last resort,” these people did
not have other access to these medical and support services.
 Overall, Louisiana received $48 million in federal Ryan White funds in 2013.9
o $15 million went to ADAP.10
o $4 million went to ADAP
Emergency Relief,11 helping to
keep people off the wait lists for
medications that have existed in
recent years past.12
o $4 million went to early
intervention.13
o $11 million went to the state’s
two urban areas eligible for Part A
funding: New Orleans and Baton
Rouge.14
After health reform, Louisiana will continue to rely on Ryan White, more than other states.
 Ryan White wraps around other resources and provides care that works for people with HIV.
 Since Louisiana is not expanding Medicaid, an estimated 3,000 of the lowest-income people
with HIV will be left out of coverage available in other states.15 They will continue to rely
solely on Ryan White.
No other program provides the same set of services or the same type of gap-filling care as Ryan
White. Even after health reform, Ryan White remains crucial for Louisiana.
Kaiser Family Foundation, Estimated Numbers of Adults and Adolescents Living with an HIV Diagnosis, 2010,
http://kff.org/hivaids/state-indicator/estimated-numbers-of-adults-and-adolescents-living-with-an-hiv-diagnosis/.
2 Kaiser Family Foundation, Estimated Deaths of Adults and Adolescents with an HIV Diagnosis, 2010, http://kff.org/hivaids/stateindicator/estimated-deaths-of-adults-and-adolescents-with-an-hiv-diagnosis/. Ranks include the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and DC.
3 National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) Atlas, from the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC), 2011 rates of new infections, http://gis.cdc.gov/GRASP/NCHHSTPAtlas/main.html.
4 CDC, National HIV Prevention Progress Report, 2013, http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/policies_NationalProgressReport.pdf.
5 Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School and the Treatment Access Expansion Project, State Health
Reform Impact Modeling Project, South Carolina, January 2013, http://southernaids.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/southcarolina-modeling-report-final.pdf.
6 CDC Fact Sheet, HIV in the US: The Stages of Care, July 2012, http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/pdf/research_mmp_StagesofCare.pdf.
7 Doshi et al., Continuum of HIV care among Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program clients, United States, 2010, published 2013,
http://blog.aids.gov/wp-content/uploads/Continuum-of-HIV-Care-among-RW-Clients-20101.pdf.
8 Health Resources Services Administration (HRSA), 2011 State Profiles, Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, Client Characteristics,
http://hab.hrsa.gov/stateprofiles/Client-Characteristics.aspx. 2011 figures are the most recent available.
9 HRSA Data Warehouse, 2013 Grants, HIV/AIDS, http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/Tools/FindGrants.aspx.
10 HRSA, FY 2013 Ryan White Part B Grant Awards, http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2013tables/ryanwhiteabc/partb.html.
11 HRSA Data Warehouse, 2013 Grants, HIV/AIDS, http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/Tools/FindGrants.aspx. In the pie chart, ADAP
and Part B Base reflect grants announced. All other categories reflect grants awarded, from the HRSA Data Warehouse, so
proportions are not exact.
12 HRSA, Investment by Obama Administration will eliminate ADAP wait lists, July 2012,
http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/07/20120719b.html.
13 HRSA Data Warehouse, 2013 Grants, HIV/AIDS, http://datawarehouse.hrsa.gov/Tools/FindGrants.aspx.
14 HRSA, FY 2013 Ryan White Part A Grant Awards, http://www.hrsa.gov/about/news/2013tables/ryanwhiteabc/parta.html.
15 Snider et al., Nearly 60,000 Uninsured And Low-Income People With HIV/AIDS Live In States That Are Not Expanding Medicaid,
Health Affairs, March 2014, http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/33/3/386.abstract.
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