Wilson Urged to Sign Legislation to Help HIV Patients : Health care: The bill would enlarge the list of drugs covered under Medi-Cal for AIDS and the deadly virus.

AIDS activists and supporters gathered in front of the City of Angels Hospice in Hollywood on Wednesday to urge Gov. Pete Wilson to sign legislation to increase the availability of drugs to HIV patients on Medi-Cal.

Saying that the illness requires costly treatments and often results in unemployment, loss of insurance and mounting debts, Leonard Bloom of AIDS Project Los Angeles and Ferd Eggan of Being Alive called for help from the state for growing numbers of HIV patients.

More than 7,000 HIV patients in Los Angeles County--about 43% of county cases--have had to go on Medi-Cal to pay for treatment of their infections, the activists said.

However, more than two dozen drugs that may lengthen or improve lives are not specifically covered by Medi-Cal, and only the wealthy can afford them, they said. The drugs counteract symptoms of various diseases, but also have shown beneficial results for AIDS patients.

One of the unlisted drugs, Tagament, bolsters the immune system, Eggan said. AIDS patients also use Neupogen, a cancer drug, to increase white blood cell counts.

The bill proposes to add at least 25 drugs to the 13 FDA-approved drugs that the California Department of Health Services now lists for AIDS and HIV patients under Medi-Cal.

“These are legal drugs,” said Eggan. “But people with AIDS who can’t pay for them out of their own pocket can’t get them because Medi-Cal hasn’t accepted them as AIDS drugs.”

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), author of the legislation, said state officials have estimated that “the costs to Medi-Cal are absorbable within their budget.”

Jimmy Dixon, 43, a former hotel catering director from Hollywood who has had AIDS for two years, said he was $10,000 in debt before he started receiving Medi-Cal benefits 13 months ago.

“The costs for drugs are just exorbitant and it stresses you financially,” Dixon said.

He said the plan covers 10 of the 14 drugs he uses, and he is left with only $6 each month after paying for food, shelter and medicine.

Tom Ahrens, senior consulting pharmacist with the Department of Health Services, said the department is neutral toward the bill because Medi-Cal can provide coverage for those medications.

“If a medication is not on the list now, either a physician or a pharmacist can contact Medi-Cal to explain why they are prescribing it,” Ahrens said. If an unlisted drug is known to work for AIDS patients, he said, Medi-Cal may pay for it if approved in advance on a case-by-case basis.