The Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act is Federal legislation which funds primary health care and support services to People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH/A). The CARE Act was named in honor of Ryan White, an Indiana teenager whose brave struggle with AIDS and against AIDS-related discrimination helped bring light to the issues and needs of PLWH/A. Today, the Treatment Modernization Act helps more than 500,000 people every year, making it the largest Federal government program specifically designed to address the unmet health needs of persons living with HIV and AIDS.

The Treatment Modernization Act serves as a safety-net for PLWH/A who have no other monetary or support resources to help them battle their disease. The Act’s intention is to reduce the use of more costly inpatient care, increase access to care for underserved populations, and improve the quality of life for those affected by the epidemic.

Federal funds allocated for the Ryan White Treatment Modernization Act are distributed to grantee agencies, which actually administer the funds and distribute them to area service providers. To ensure that these funds are utilized efficiently, community planning councils exist to research and recommend a course of action to the grantee agency on where the money should be spent.

In Florida, Treatment Modernization Act funds are distributed among 17 areas within the state. Area 7 corresponds to East Central Florida and includes Brevard, Orange, Osceola and Seminole Counties. The Central Florida AIDS Planning (CFAP) Consortium is the community planning council assigned to recommend how these funds are spent in these counties.