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June 13, 2008
FRIEDEN POWER GRAB AVERTED
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Planning Council cochairs Jan Carl Park and Soraya Elcock |
At the Ryan White Planning Council of New York's Executive Committee meeting on Tuesday, Council members rejected proposed changes to Planning Council bylaws that would have increased the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's (DOHMH) voting power. The changes would also have had a potentially disruptive effect on the Council's Congressionally mandated power to make binding decisions about Ryan White funds.
The Executive Committee rejected changes proposed by the Council's rules and membership committee, which had voted 3-2 to amend the existing Council bylaws to add two DOHMH members to the 40 person council and add the phrase "in concert with the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene" to key parts of the bylaws. To see the proposed changes to the bylaws, click here...
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ACTION ALERT: STOP BAD HIV TESTING BILL!
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Gottfried and Mayersohn: Informed consent is in trouble in Albany |
After a one week delay, on June 17 the New York State Assembly Health Committee is scheduled to vote on two competing bills to overhaul Article 27-f, the HIV testing and consent law that protects the confidentiality and privacy of anyone who has been tested for or exposed to HIV. Bill A.4813 is proposed by Nettie Mayersohn, and bill A.11461 was created by the New York State Department of Health and introduced by Dick Gottfried.
Now is the time to tell your Assembly member that you oppose Mayersohn's short-sighted bill. Call the Assembly switchboard toll-free 866-802-0640 and contact members of the Assembly Health Committee: Jim Bacalles, (R-Corning), Jonathan Bing (D-Manhattan), Kevin Cahill (D-Kingston), James Conte (R-Huntington), Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn), Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx), Patricia Eddington (D-Medford), Sandy Galef, (D-Ossining), Aileen Gunther (D-Monticello), Stephen Hawley (R-Albion), Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills), Rhoda Jacobs (D-Brooklyn),William Magnarelli (R- Syracuse), Nettie Mayersohn (D-Flushing), David McDonough (R-Bellmore), Joel Miller (R-Poughkeepsie), Amy Paulin (D-Scarsdale), Crystal Peoples (D-Buffalo), Jack Quinn (R-Blasdell), Andrew Raia (R-Northport), Naomi Rivera (D-Bronx), Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), Robin Schimminger (D-Kenmore), Darryl C. Towns (D-Brooklyn).
It's unclear how the Assembly members will vote, with some—like Hevesi and Magnarelli—likely to vote for both bills. These double dippers don't want to back down on their word to Mayersohn—who approached them about cosponsoring months ago—even though they now prefer the Gottfried bill...
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PEPFAR'S FINAL HURDLE
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McCain is puzzled about PEPFAR details |
At a town hall meeting in Philadelphia on Wednesday, Sen. John McCain said he would "look into" talking to his Senate buddy Tom Coburn (R-OK), one of the seven Republican senators holding hostage the reauthorization of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR). The presumptive Republican nominee also admitted he was "not really familiar" with the current reauthorization bill, the Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008. The legislation would expand U.S. funding for HIV/AIDS to $50 billion over five years. McCain's response was reported in the Philadelphia Daily News.
"I was disappointed McCain didn't know more about this battle," said Health GAP organizer Kaytee Riek, who asked McCain to speak to Coburn at the town hall. "It's out there, and very public senior members of the Senate and surrogates of McCain's are blocking the bill." While President Bush views the PEPFAR reauthorization as his legacy, the next president is going to be the one to oversee and implement it. That knowledge means that McCain and Sen. Barack Obama's opinions are immensely important to their respective party's Congresspeople...
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ACTION ALERT: DEMAND CONGRESS USE WASTEFUL ABSTINENCE-ONLY DOLLARS FOR COST-SAVING MEDICARE FIX!
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Congress needs to eliminate donut holes (except the yummy kind) flickr.com/photos/veganwarrior/337275890 |
If Congress corrects a Medicare Part D loophole it will cost approximately $20 million a year —but will save $50 million a year (not to mention the lives they might save or improve). Many people who receive their HIV drugs through the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit reach the dreaded "donut hole" when the cost of their meds exceeds $2,510. They can't receive Medicare Part D benefits until they pay a whopping $4,050 out of pocket, referred to as "true out of pocket costs" or TrOOP.
"ADAP as TrOOP" would allow the joint state-federal AIDS Drugs Assistance Programs (ADAP) to pay the $4,050. Doing so would get people out of the donut hole-and save $50 million for ADAP, since ADAP ends up paying the entire cost of AIDS drugs for everyone trapped in the donut hole. ADAP as TrOOP also guarantees care: Unlike Medicare, ADAP is not an entitlement and funding is always precarious. The House of Representatives understood this common sense measure and put ADAP as TrOOP in their Medicare budget, but it was MIA from the Senate version. In what is actually good news for AIDS advocates, the bill was blocked by Republicans for unrelated reasons. So when the bill is sent back to the drawing board, we have time to ask for changes!
And guess what funding is included in the Medicare bill? If you picked, abstinence-only education, you are correct. Yup, in the same Medicare budget, $75 million will go to Title V abstinence-only funding over 18 months, despite the fact that 17 states have already rejected the money. Abstinence-only funding has been proven ineffective at reducing sexually transmitted infections and pregnancy...
SHOOTING BACK
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VOCAL member Jones (left) talks to Thai embassy official Atsavaprace about harm reduction |
"Thai government! We are watching you!" That was the relentless refrain of a coalition of some 50 international activists and active drug users from New York who protested outside the Thai embassy in Manhattan on Monday. The demonstrators came out in the scorching heat to demand that the Thai government end the drug war that killed 3,000 people in 2003 and was resurrected this spring. Prime Minister of Thailand, Samak Sundaravej, announced in April that the police would have special powers to track down drug users in order to reduce the demand for drugs.
The protest coincided with the UN High Level Meeting on AIDS, where the Thai government was being lavished in (well-deserved) praised for standing up to pharma and providing antiretrovirals to its citizens. But while new HIV infections in Thailand have declined overall, 50 percent of new infections occur among IV drug users and those numbers are going up. Many drug users were and continue to be systematically denied access to medical care, including HIV medications...
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