May 20, 2008 | Main | May 27, 2008
May 23, 2008
A MEDICAID MOMENT
 |
Despite some disagreement, Bachrach and King share a laugh post-forum |
A standing-room only crowd of consumers and providers packed the conference room (and the hallway) at the Latino Commission on AIDS Tuesday to hear state officials' and AIDS care providers' spin on how potential changes in Medicaid will affect people with HIV/AIDS.
The system for AIDS care and the general Medicaid system in New York have grown in very different ways. Talk of COBRA case management reform and the possibility of mandatory managed care has created strong concerns that New York's superior quality care for people with HIV/AIDS—which has taken 20 years to develop—will be lost. Currently, $2.3 billion of the $46.3 billion state Medicaid budget is spent on 60,000 to 70,000 poor people with AIDS—more than the entire Ryan White Care Act budget for the entire country...
Read the rest: "A MEDICAID MOMENT"
GENDA MOVES FORWARD
 |
Thank you Assemblyman Lentol! |
For the first time in five years of trying, the Gender Expression Nondiscrimination Act (A6584) passed through the New York State Assembly's Codes committee, chaired by Assemblymember Joseph Lentol, by a vote of 16-2. The next stop is the Assembly floor. GENDA, as the bill is known, would prohibit discrimination based on gender identity or expression in health care, housing, employment and public accommodations.
GENDA has more than 70 co-sponsors in the Assembly, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has repeatedly blocked it from coming to the floor for a vote. GENDA activists are genuinely optimistic that this year could be different. Sign up with the Empire State Pride Agenda to know when you need to call your Assemblymembers to tell them to act immediately and bring this bill to a vote in the Assembly. On a strategically chosen day to be announced very soon, members of the Assembly will hear directly from the 78 percent of New Yorkers who support transgender equality and the passage of GENDA. To get in on the action, sign up for the Statewide Call-In Day for Transgender Equality by clicking on the GENDA Call-In Day box on the Pride Agenda website: prideagenda.org. ...
Read the rest: "GENDA MOVES FORWARD"
PLANNING MAKES PERFECT
 |
National AIDS-strategizing on the Hill |
The U.S. response to the AIDS crisis is a largely patchwork system with little accountability. And the U.S. still hasn't buckled down and created a plan to address the epidemic, even though it demands national strategies from all countries receiving Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding. At a Congressional briefing Tuesday, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and a diverse group of AIDS advocates spoke to a packed house of more than 100 Congressional staffers and advocates about the need for the next president to create a national AIDS strategy. Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have both called for a comprehensive plan to fight AIDS domestically, though Sen. John McCain has not.
"Many AIDS organizations and elected officials have been trying different ideas for a long time now, but often without research to back it up," Waters told the Update. "And as a nation, our response to the epidemic has not been a consolidated effort with clear-cut goals and missions."...
Read the rest: "PLANNING MAKES PERFECT"
PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES
 |
COLA doesn't quite do the trick (flickr.com/photos/tjpm/3393636/) |
The New York Department of Health's AIDS Institute announced its budget cuts last Friday, and their bark is likely worse than their bite. As expected, grantees will be hit with approximately two percent cuts to next year's programmatic contracts (starting July 1), but the programs will also get a three percent cost of living adjustment (COLA) in September.
While not directly connected, the COLA boost can potentially lessen the blow to programmatic contracts, according to Liz Fairweather, director of administration for the AIDS Institute. Still, because of how the funding is allocated, this is not a one-for-one substitution....
Read the rest: "PLAYING THE PERCENTAGES"
SUITING UP
 |
Dick and Caleb Glover in Disneyland (photo credit: Valerie Sarmiento) |
Who would have thought a little boy could make such a splash? Last July Caleb Glover was denied entry to the Wales West RV Resort in Alabama's pool and showers because he was HIV-positive. Then on Labor Day, joined by Campaign to End AIDS activists on a "family reunion," he was finally allowed to go for a swim at the same park where he was discriminated against earlier that summer. In March, through a private fundraiser of Caleb supporters, he and his family were flown out to Disneyland and received a check for $10,000 from donations collected at supportcalebglover.com...