Jersey joins other states in throwing HIV/AIDS patients under the bus

A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. And it's been said that a society is judged based on how it treats its weakest members.

So what does that say of New Jersey, which will soon bar some 950 HIV/AIDS patients from a program that provides free medication.

When the change takes place on August 1, income eligibility for the free drug program will drop from $53,150 to $32,490.

Think about that.

$33,000 is not a high income these days. But, out of that modest income, patients will now have to pay for their own HIV/AIDS meds, and those drugs don't come cheap. Or, as Hyacinth Foundation director Kathy Ahearn-O'Brien has noted, the change may force patients to quit their jobs to stay in treatment.

But Jersey isn't the only state to blame. Because of the tight economy and misled priorities, similar cuts have been made, or are in the works, in other states as well.

I can sympathize with the difficult economic position that so many states are in these days. But I'll bet that not a single one of them would consider raising taxes on the very wealthy in order to keep our more vulnerable citizens alive and healthy.