TRENTON – Senator Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), vice chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, today released the following statement on the Governor�s decision to provide a new drug benefit program to 957 New Jersey residents who were scheduled to lose medication coverage Sunday under the AIDS Drug Distribution Program (ADDP). Senator Vitale yesterday sent a letter to the governor requesting the restoration:
“If the Governor had this problem solved already, then why can’t his administration tell me whether the new program will cover the same medications as ADDP and whether new people will be enrolled?
“The fact of the matter is that the Governor knew about all these funding sources before he sent 957 letters out kicking people off a program they need in order to stay alive. I am happy to talk to him about wasting paper, but let’s start with the 957 letters he now has to send telling these folks they’re back on.
“I have spoken to and emailed the administration for months about how these cuts are needless. Now I at least know how to get his attention on an issue.”