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September 5, 2008
MANAGING ANSWERS
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Looking for answers on mandatory managed care |
On Wednesday, the State Department of Health met with community-based organizations to provide details about the impending roll-out of mandatory managed care for Medicaid recipients living with HIV and the elimination of fee-for-service care at Designated AIDS Centers. The meeting, attended by some 90 people, brought more questions than answers. Despite specifics about the plan to implement the changes, and the DOH's call for community input, looming questions remain.
The state hasn't set an official date for the roll-out and has yet to receive approval from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) or Gov. David Paterson. It's also unclear how people who are unstably housed will be reached, and if HIV special needs plans (SNPs) are going to be prepared for an influx in patients.
State officials were careful to reinforce their position that mandatory managed care is not a budget belt-tightening move. Director of the DOH's division of managed care, Jay Laudato said. "We have not proposed cost savings to the [New York State] Division of the Budget. FOIL us, sue us, do what you have to do."...
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MOTHER OF ACTIVISM
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Jonesing to Stand Against AIDS |
This article is one of a series of Update profiles of men and women who will be leading activist caravans as part of the Stand Against AIDS, a multi-arm, multi-week advocacy roadtrip aimed at getting presidential hopefuls Sens. Barack Obama and John McCain to commit to taking meaningful steps toward the creation of a National AIDS Plan within 100 days of taking office. The caravans kick off in mid-September and converge in Oxford, Mississippi on September 23 for four days of action. The first debate between Obama and McCain takes place in Oxford on September 26.
When Marsha Jones' eldest daughter was diagnosed with HIV 11 years ago, Jones didn't know where to turn for support. "We were trying to access services for teenage girls but none were available. We didn't have any resources we could put our hands on," Jones said. They didn't find any services until Jones' daughter landed in the hospital with cytomegalovirus (CMV) and PCP. The hospital helped them find the AIDS services they needed; since then Jones has guided her daughter's care. "Everything she learned she learned from me, and everything I learned I taught myself," said Jones, who has one other daughter, one son, and three grandchildren...
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ACTION ALERT: SIGN ON TO MEDICAID STIMULUS LETTER!
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Give Medicaid spending a jolt! |
Medicaid, the nation's single largest payer for HIV/AIDS care, is facing cutbacks at state and federal levels (as well as a potentially devastating new CMS regulation). One way to lessen the damage is to include a temporary increase to the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP) as part of a second Congressional stimulus package this fall.
Under federal law, Medicaid is required to match a share of each state's Medicaid spending depending on the state's per capita income. In New York, for instance, a 1.5 percent increase in matching money could pump several billion dollars into health care, making this an economic stimulus that will actually help poor people. 55 percent of people with AIDS, 44 percent of people with HIV, and 90 percent of children with HIV/AIDS rely on Medicaid for their health care and treatment.
National, state and local sign ons to a Medicaid Coalition letter supporting FMAP increases are due by NOON today, Friday, September 5. To sign on to the letter below contact Lena, Families USA, (lorourke@familiesusa.org) or Linda Bennett, AFSCME, (LBennett@afscme.org).
Click below to see the letter...
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CHANGE FOR THE WORSE
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Munar, Glover and GMHC's Dr. Marjorie Hill at the DNC |
HIV/AIDS should be a nonpartisan issue—but it should be a bipartisan one, too. As of Thursday, this year's Democratic and Republican National Conventions had barely touched on HIV/AIDS, and for the first time since 1992, there wasn't a single HIV-positive speaker at either convention. The Dems have had an HIV-positive speaker every year since 1992; Republicans have twice had HIV-positive AIDS advocate Mary Fischer address the its convention.
"Not to see an HIV-positive speaker in Denver was disappointing, especially with the reported rise in new infections," said David Munar, an HIV-positive Obama delegate who took a vacation from his job as vice president of policy and communications at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago to attend the Democratic convention. Munar added that "actions speak louder than words" and that he was willing to wait and see what Obama might deliver as President.
Munar's presence alone made a difference at the DNC—Munar, who is also the incoming president of the National Association for People with AIDS, was shown on CNN for 15 seconds during Michelle Obama's speech wearing a NationalAidsStrategy.org T-shirt. Afterwards he received an e-mail (via the National AIDS Strategy web site) from a newly infected person thanking him for being visible at the convention. The e-mail read, "When I saw you with your shirt a great feeling of excitement, happiness and immediate sense of a call to action came over me. I paused, rewound, and paused again finding hope printed on your chest. Thank you for bringing back to life a part of me that I'd felt was long dead."...
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