Fighting for Housing Funding for People with HIV/AIDS

WASHINGTON - U.S. Representative Mike Quigley (IL-05) delievered the following statement in support of an amendment to the annual Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) Appropriations Bill that increases funding for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program by $3 million.

Video and a transcript of his full prepared remarks is included below. Please click here if you have difficulty viewing the video.

Thank you Mr. Chairman, I also rise in strong support of this Amendment. I'd like to ask folks to think of this as an investment. HOPWA is an investment. It's not money down the drain. When we keep people in stable housing, their health improves, they adhere to their medications and they stay out of the emergency rooms' it saves us all money.

This isn't wishful thinking, my friends, this is fact. An analysis was conducted in my hometown of Chicago, the results of which were published in the Journal of Health Services Research. They found that for every one-hundred homeless individuals with HIV receiving housing assistance and case management, we saw a savings of almost one-million dollars annually in public funds.

These savings are net, calculated after housing subsidies and case management services were taken into account. According to the study, those receiving supportive housing and case management incurred 2.6 fewer hospital days, 1.2 fewer emergency room visits, 7.5 fewer days in residential substance abuse treatment, and 9.8 fewer nursing home days.

So, if folks want to reduce spending, they should be investing in HOPWA, not cutting them. Thank you, and I yield back.