Archive for January, 2012
CA Health Exchange Board Considers EHB
California’s Health Benefit Exchange Board met yesterday to consider comments on the Essential Health Benefits bulletin that was released by the Department of Health and Human Services in December. Advocates from across the state took advantage of this opportunity to make sure the Exchange Board heard about what’s important for people living with HIV and [...]
Sign the petition to HHS: Improve Essential Health Benefits! Deadline Jan. 31
[UPDATE: The petition was submitted January 31, 2011 with over 2,700 signatures. Good job, community!] Please sign this urgent petition from the AIDS Institute! And please forward widely to your friends and contacts. The voice of patients, including those who are living with HIV/AIDS, is critical as the U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) determines [...]
HIV Health Policy Experts to Feds: Essential Health Benefits Plan Needs Improvement
On January 17, the nation’s leading HIV health policy experts sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services expressing concern about the department’s essential health benefits proposal. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The federal definition of “essential health benefits” is really, really, really important. The feds are [...]
Gov Brown Proposes Cuts to California’s ADAP Program
Last week, Governor Jerry Brown released his proposed FY 2012/13 budget that includes dramatic cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The governor’s plan calls for low-income and uninsured HIV-positive people in the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Plan, or ADAP, to share costs and in some cases monthly co-payments could be as high as [...]
Medill News spotlights HIVHealthReform.org
The crack team of investigative journalists over at Medill News Service put us under the microscope, and here’s what they have to say about the new site: Local and national HIV advocacy organizations have teamed up to create an all-inclusive website explaining how health reform affects those living with HIV. The website, www.HIVHealthReform.org, highlights how [...]
Tell the Supreme Court that Health Reform matters to people with HIV
The Affordable Care Act promises to expand life-saving access to care and prevention for people living with and at risk of HIV, but this historic expansion is being threatened in the U.S. Supreme Court. Several states have filed suit against the federal government claiming that parts of the law are unconstitutional. If they win, it [...]
A&U Magazine: Will Deficit Reduction Undermine Good HIV Care?
A&U magazine gets snaps for covering our favorite topic – the importance of health reform for people with HIV. Here’s a snippet of Mariel Selbovitz, MPH, and Leslie G Selbovitz, MD’s article, “When it comes to effective HIV reform, don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Extensive progress in improving and coordinating care for HIV/AIDS patients [...]
New fact sheet: How the health reform law helps people with HIV
Still wondering how the Affordable Care Act helps people living with HIV/AIDS? Well, there’s no need to wonder anymore! The HSS Office of Health Reform has developed a new fact sheet about how the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is particularly important for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as other people living with serious medical conditions. The law has made significant progress in [...]
New Online Resource: HIVHealthReform.org
CHICAGO – A leading group of HIV advocacy organizations announce the launch of a new website to serve as the go-to source for information, advocacy resources, and news on what health care reform (the Affordable Care Act) means for people living with HIV and their providers. The website — HIVHealthReform.org — is intended to educate [...]
Take Action! Use these handy talking points to comment to HHS on Essential Health Benefits (Due 1/31)
(Brought to you by your friends at the HIV Health Care Access Working Group (HHCAWG), who developed these handy-dandy talking points to help you submit comments on the HHS Essential Health Benefits package comments.) EHB BULLETIN: WHAT IT MEANS On December 16, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released an “Essential Health [...]
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