Part B: AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP)

Under the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) Part B, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) provides FDA-approved medications to low-income people with HIV. These people have limited or no health insurance. Grant recipients can also use ADAP funds to:  

• Buy health insurance for eligible clients, and
• Provide services that improve access to, adherence to, and monitoring of, drug treatments.

Who receives Part B grants?

The chief elected official of a state or territory receives RWHAP Part B grants. They choose the state departments of health or other state agencies to carry out the grant.

We award Part B grants, including ADAP grants, to all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Republic of the Marshall Islands, and the Republic of Palau. 

Which clients are eligible?

The state or territory decides who is eligible based on the following criteria:

• Medical eligibility: HIV diagnosis
• Financial eligibility: Usually determined as a percentage of the federal poverty level

Clients must also live in the state or territory.

Grant recipients and subrecipients must conduct timely eligibility confirmations, in accordance with their own policies and procedures, to assess if there are changes in a client’s income and/or residency status. Learn more in policy clarification notice 21-02.

How do you decide on funding amounts?

• Congress chooses a portion of the RWHAP Part B appropriation for the ADAP base.
• We use a formula to decide ADAP grant amounts. The formula is based on the number of people reported living with HIV/AIDS in the state or territory in the most recent calendar year.
• ADAP supplemental funds are a 5% set aside of the ADAP base award for states and territories that:
  • Meet the eligibility criteria in the RWHAP statute.
  • Choose to apply for more funding to address the severe need for medication.
• The ADAP Emergency Relief Funding is a competitive grant for states and territories. Grant recipients must show a need for more resources to prevent, reduce, or get rid of waiting lists, including through cost-containment measures. 

What rules must ADAPs follow?

Each ADAP decides which medications to include on its formulary and how those medications will be distributed. Each ADAP must:

• Cover at least one drug from each class of HIV antiretroviral medications on their ADAP formulary
• Purchase only FDA-approved medications with RWHAP funds

HRSA also requires:

• ADAP eligibility criteria to be applied consistently across the state or territory
• All formulary medications and ADAP-funded services to be equally and consistently available to all eligible enrolled people throughout the state or territory