July 18, 2008 | Main | August 1, 2008
July 25, 2008
DISINVITED
Published in Gay City News and El Diario
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No need to RSVP, Mike |
For the past 13 years, on World AIDS Day, city officials have joined Housing Works to commemorate the lives of those who have died of AIDS. The best way to honor the dead is to support those currently living with HIV/AIDS. Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council did not fulfill this duty with their nearly $6 million hit to HIV and AIDS services, prevention and care in this year's budget, which will slash services to those hardest hit by the AIDS epidemic.
In an effort to call attention to the city's neglect of its residents living with HIV/AIDS, and to hold accountable those persons that are in many ways responsible for this failure to protect our city's poor and ill, Housing Works is publicly disinviting Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, and anyone from the mayor's office or members of City Council who voted in favor of this year's budget to participate in our annual World AIDS Day "Reading of the Names" vigil in December. The vigil, where names of people who have died of AIDS are read aloud, has become a cornerstone of New York City's World AIDS Day commemorations...
GUV'S OFFICE LIKELY TO APPROVE MANDATORY MEDICAID MANAGED CARE FOR PEOPLE WITH HIV/AIDS
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Bachrach pushing for mandatory managed care for PWAs on Medicaid |
Despite the fact that state Medicaid Director Deborah Bachrach told the Update in May that mandatory managed care for people with HIV/AIDS on Medicaid was not a done deal, talk within the Department of Health, the AIDS Institute and the Governor’s office suggests that we could see mandatory enrollment begin as soon as this coming January. On Wednesday, state officials presented the proposal to members of the New York State AIDS Advisory Council.
If the State's plan goes through, current regulations will be changed and New Yorkers on Medicaid who are living with HIV/AIDS will be forced to enroll in a managed care plan. Mandatory HMO enrollment will undoubtedly save the state money, but it's unclear if health outcomes will improve. Key pieces of government information have yet to be made public, including a "three system analysis" that looked at outcome indicators for people living with HIV/AIDS enrolled in the current mainstream plan, those enrolled in HIV Special Needs Plans, and those remaining in the fee-for-service system. Bachrach and AIDS Institute Director Humberto Cruz claim that the data from this and other departmental reviews indicate that mandatory enrollment would improve quality of care.
TALKING ABOUT HOMELESSNESS
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Mexico City: Housing advocates want the IAC to see the big picture |
The link between homelessness and AIDS has for too long been neglected at International AIDS Conferences (IAC) past. But the need for housing as a crucial response to the epidemic will take center stage at the International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS satellite session on August 3 at this year's IAC in Mexico City. The meeting will be held from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in Session Room 7. Experts hailing from South Africa, Haiti, Thailand, the Caribbean, the U.S. and Canada, as well as homeless people living with AIDS, will speak at the revolutionary meeting to create a plan to address homelessness and poverty as roadblocks to defeating the AIDS epidemic.
After the interactive summit—conducted in Spanish, English and French—participants will march to the IAC headquarters at the conference center and deliver a declaration demanding that "that policy makers address the lack of adequate housing as a barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment and care; and that all governments fund and develop housing as a response to the AIDS pandemic."...
Read the rest: "TALKING ABOUT HOMELESSNESS"
SAVING THE SOUTH
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The epidemic is growing in these red states |
More than 250 people gathered in Birmingham, Alabama this week at the first-ever Southern Access Summit. The summit centered around the release of the Southern States Manifesto: Update 2008. This report addresses the AIDS epidemic in the South and measures improvements since the first Southern States Manifesto was issued in 2002.
"One really positive thing since 2002 is there's more focus on the South. Eight years ago, no one thought about the South being the U.S. center of the epidemic," said Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) community co-chair Kathie Hiers. Hiers and SAC government co-chair Evelyn Foust were honored with the Stephen G. Sherman Award at the summit for their work in addressing the AIDS epidemic in the South...
Read the rest: "SAVING THE SOUTH"