On February 10, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) moved to alleviate the concerns of HIV/AIDS patients worried they would lose their emergency housing assistance under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act.

HRSA announced that the previous 24-month cumulative cap on housing assistance would no longer be enforced.

The first people affected by this cap would have lost their housing this coming March.

However, with this announcement HIV/AIDS patients receiving short-term housing care can relax, knowing the cap will not be as strictly enforced as once thought.

Under the Ryan White CARE Act, persons affected by HIV/AIDS receive housing during transitional or emergency periods.

Programs under this act also fund treatment for patients with no other options.

Funding from these programs also benefit health care providers and support services.

The Ryan White CARE Act, first enacted in 1990, is currently the nation’s largest federally funded program for people living with HIV/AIDS. Its primary goal is to increase the availability of care to those in need, particularly for those who may be uninsured, underinsured, or low income.

This act was named after Ryan White, a teenager living in the United States who contracted HIV in 1984 through a contaminated blood treatment for his hemophilia. When he outlived his doctors’ predictions and attempted to return to school, he faced rejection and discrimination.

The press surrounding White’s situation spread his story nationwide, prompting him to become an active spokesman for AIDS research and public education at a time when little was known about the disease.

Though he lived five years longer than expected, White eventually succumbed to the illness at the age of 18 in 1990, just before he would have graduated from high school.

Despite this, his legacy lives on. His experience with HIV/AIDS helped change the national perspective on the disease, diminishing the public’s strong association between the virus and homosexuality. White’s personal story and activist efforts also significantly increased HIV/AIDS awareness.

The act named in his honor passed a few months after White passed away.

“We owe it to Ryan to make sure that the fear and ignorance that chased him from his home and his school will be eliminated,” said former President Ronald Reagan. “We owe it to Ryan to open our hearts and our minds to those with AIDS. We owe it to Ryan to be compassionate, caring, and tolerant to those with AIDS, their families, and friends.”

In October 2009, Congress and President Barack Obama reauthorized the Ryan White CARE Act by passing the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act. This extended the Ryan White CARE Act another four years.

According to a White House statetment, “[The signing of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009] represents our ongoing commitment to ensuring access to needed HIV/AIDS care and treatment.”

For more information, please see White House publication of the HRSA announcement, or the National AIDS Housing Coalition Web site.