Governor Cuomo Announces All People Living with HIV in NYC to Become Eligible for Housing, Transportation, and Nutritional Support

On June 23, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all HIV-positive, low-income individuals in New York City will soon be eligible to receive housing, transportation, and nutritional support. This commitment will expand assistance from the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) to an estimated 7,000 people living with HIV in NYC.

Expanding housing to HIV positive New Yorkers who do not have an AIDS diagnosis is a key part of the End the AIDS Epidemic (EtE) Blueprint to reduce the number of new HIV infections from 3,000 per year to fewer than 750 by 2020. Numerous studies have shown that housing status is among the strongest indicators in HIV health outcomes and service utilization.

“Every individual living with HIV should have access to life-saving care, regardless of whether or not they are symptomatic of the disease at that moment,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement.

“Amida Care applauds Governor Cuomo for taking this critical step forward to End the AIDS Epidemic in New York,” said Doug Wirth, President and CEO of Amida Care, who served on the Governor’s EtE Task Force. “Housing is health care – for people living with HIV, having a stable place to live is the first step on the path to becoming virally suppressed. Making an unwavering commitment to give people the tools and resources they need to get and stay well is how we will End the AIDS Epidemic in New York once and for all.”