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House Spending Proposal Sets Back Domestic HIV/AIDS Programs

2011-10-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

House Spending Proposal Sets Back Domestic HIV/AIDS Programs

Published: Monday, Oct. 3, 2011 - 2:57 pm

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2011 --
Impedes Prevention and Fails to Address Record High ADAP Wait Lists
WASHINGTON, Oct. 3, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "If ever passed, this spending bill would set back the progress we are making in preventing HIV and providing basic care and treatment for those who have HIV/AIDS in our country," commented Carl Schmid, Deputy Executive Director of The AIDS Institute.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110412/DC82138LOGO)
House Labor, HHS,Education and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Denny Rehberg (R-MT) introduced a fiscal year 2012 spending bill that guts many programs, including health reform, and resurrects non-science based prevention policies.
Most disappointing is how the bill would impede prevention. Rehberg's bill would cut by nearly $33 million funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention. This is despite an estimated 50,000 new HIV infections each year and over 230,000 people unaware of their infection. The U.S. government invests only about 3 percent of its HIV funding in prevention. The lifetime cost of caring and treating one person with HIV is approximately $360,000. In order to help achieve the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy to reduce the number of new infections and increase testing levels by 2015, the President has proposed an increase of $57 million for HIV prevention in FY12.
On top of cutting CDC's budget, the bill would ban federal funding of syringe exchange programs, a scientifically proven method to prevent HIV and other infections while not increasing drug use, and would resurrect failed abstinence only until marriage programs. Additionally, the bill would decimate the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program by cutting its budget from $105 million to $20 million, eliminate all Title X spending, which funds HIV testing programs for women, and the entire Prevention and Public Health Fund.
The House bill proposes to flat fund the entire Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which provides care and treatment to over 550,000 low-income people with HIV/AIDS. It fails to address the crisis in the Ryan White AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). There are currently over 8,500 people in nine states on ADAP waiting lists and over 445 people in six states who have been disenrolled from the program due to budget constraints and growing enrollment. The AIDS Institute and its partners have been advocating for an increase of at least $106 million. The President has requested a $55 million increase. In order to address the current wait list, an increase of approximately $98 million would be required.
Chairman Rehberg's bill also prevents implementation of much of the Affordable Care Act, which once fully implemented, would both bring many people with HIV/AIDS into lifesaving care and treatment for the first time and help to prevent HIV.
The one bright spot in the bill is Rehberg's proposal to increase medical research spending at the National Institutes of Health by $1 billion.
"While we realize we are living in very difficult fiscal times, this bill is not just about making difficult funding decisions, but about resurrecting many controversial policies that will never pass the Congress nor be signed by the President," commented Michael Ruppal, Executive Director of The AIDS Institute. "As Congress finalizes its FY12 spending bill, The AIDS Institute will work with the House, Senate and the Administration to increase, rather than cut funding for prevention and adequately fund all parts of the Ryan White Program, including ADAP. Additionally, we will work to defeat all extreme policy riders.
The bill (HR 3070) has not been formally considered by the House Appropriations Subcommittee. The Senate Appropriations Committee already has passed its own version of the bill. Since Congress has not passed any spending measures, the government is currently operating under a short term continuing resolution.
The AIDS Institute is a national nonprofit organization that promotes action for social change through public policy research, advocacy and education.
For more information and to become involved, please contact The AIDS Institute at: (202) 835-8373, or by email at: Info@theaidsinstitute.org or www.TheAIDSInstitute.org

Insurer targeted HIV patients to drop coverage

2010-03-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

Insurer targeted HIV patients to drop coverage

(Reuters) - In May, 2002, Jerome Mitchell, a 17-year old college freshman from rural South Carolina, learned he had contracted HIV. The news, of course, was devastating, but Mitchell believed that he had one thing going for him: On his own initiative, in anticipation of his first year in college, he had purchased his own health insurance.

Shortly after his diagnosis, however, his insurance company, Fortis, revoked his policy. Mitchell was told that without further treatment his HIV would become full-blown AIDS within a year or two and he would most likely die within two years after that.

So he hired an attorney -- not because he wanted to sue anyone; on the contrary, the shy African-American teenager expected his insurance was canceled by mistake and would be reinstated once he set the company straight.

But Fortis, now known as Assurant Health, ignored his attorney's letters, as they had earlier inquiries from a case worker at a local clinic who was helping him. So Mitchell sued.

In 2004, a jury in Florence County, South Carolina, ordered Assurant Health, part of Assurant Inc, to pay Mitchell $15 million for wrongly revoking his heath insurance policy.

In September 2009, the South Carolina Supreme Court upheld the lower court's verdict, although the court reduced the amount to be paid him to $10 million.

By winning the verdict against Fortis, Mitchell not only obtained a measure of justice for himself; he also helped expose wrongdoing on the part of Fortis that could have repercussions for the entire health insurance industry.

Previously undisclosed records from Mitchell's case reveal that Fortis had a company policy of targeting policyholders with HIV. A computer program and algorithm targeted every policyholder recently diagnosed with HIV for an automatic fraud investigation, as the company searched for any pretext to revoke their policy. As was the case with Mitchell, their insurance policies often were canceled on erroneous information, the flimsiest of evidence, or for no good reason at all, according to the court documents and interviews with state and federal investigators.

The revelations come at a time when President Barack Obama, in his frantic push to rescue the administration's health care plan, has stepped up his criticism of insurers. The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to vote later this week on an overhaul of the health system, which Obama has said is essential to do away with controversial and unpopular industry practices.

Insurance companies have long engaged in the practice of "rescission," whereby they investigate policyholders shortly after they've been diagnosed with life-threatening illnesses. But government regulators and investigators who have overseen the actions of Assurant and other health insurance companies say it is unprecedented for a company to single out people with HIV.

In his previously undisclosed court ruling, the judge in the Mitchell case also criticized what he said were the company's efforts to cover its tracks.

Assurant Health said that as a matter of policy it did not comment on individual customer claims.

"We disagree with certain of the court's characterizations of Assurant Health's policies and procedures in the Mitchell case," it said in a statement provided by spokesman Peter Duckler, adding: "The case continues to progress through the appellate process."

"REPREHENSIBLE" CONDUCT

Much of the trial record of the Mitchell case is bound by a confidentiality order and not available to the public. But two orders written by the presiding judge, Michael G. Nettles, a state circuit judge for the 12th Judicial District of South Carolina, of Florence County, describe the case in detail. Judge Nettles wrote the orders in response to motions by Assurant that the jury's verdict be set aside or reduced.

In the motions, Nettles not only strongly denied Fortis' claims but condemned the corporation's conduct.

"There was evidence that Fortis' general counsel insisted years ago that members of the rescission committee not record the identity of the persons present and involved in the process of making a decision to rescind a Fortis health insurance policy," Nettles wrote.

Elsewhere in his order, Nettles noted that there were no "minutes of actions, votes, or any business conducted during the rescission committee's meeting."

The South Carolina Supreme Court, in upholding the jury's verdict in the case in a unanimous 5-0 opinion, said that it agreed with the lower court's finding that Fortis destroyed records to hide the corporation's misconduct. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jean Hoefer Toal wrote: "The lack of written rescission policies, the lack of information available regarding appealing rights or procedures, the separate policies for rescission documents" as well as the "omission" of other records regarding the decision to revoke Mitchell's insurance, constituted "evidence that Fortis tried to conceal the actions it took in rescinding his policy."

In affirming the trial verdict and Nettles' order, Toal was as harsh in her criticism of the company as Judge Nettles had been. "We find ample support in the record that Fortis' conduct was reprehensible," she wrote. "Fortis demonstrated an indifference to Mitchell's life and a reckless disregard to his health and safety."

Fortis canceled Mitchell's health insurance based on a single erroneous note from a nurse in his medical records that indicated that he might have been diagnosed prior to his obtaining his insurance policy. When the company's investigators discovered the note, they ceased further review of Mitchell's records for evidence to the contrary, including the records containing the doctor's diagnosis.

Nettles also suggested that Fortis should have realized the date in the note was incorrect: "Not only did Fortis choose to rely on one false and unreliable snippet of information containing an erroneous date to the exclusion of other information which would have revealed that date to be erroneous, Fortis refused to conduct any further investigation even after it was on notice the evidence which aroused its suspicion to be false," the judge noted.

Fortis "gambled" with Mitchell's life, Nettles wrote.

Their motive, according to the judge, was obvious: "The court finds that Fortis wrongfully elevated its concerns for maximizing profits over the rights and interest of its customer." In upholding Nettles' verdict, the South Carolina Supreme Court similarly ruled that "Fortis was motivated to avoid the losses it would undoubtedly incur in supporting Mitchell's costly medical condition."

While declining to comment on specific cases, Assurant said in the statement: "All insurance companies have processes to review claims to ensure their accuracy, completeness and compliance with policy provisions and we evaluate all claims on an individual basis."

CEO DEFENDED RESCISSION

On June 16, 2009, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, held a hearing on the practice of rescission by health insurance companies, and among the industry executives who testified was Don Hamm, the CEO and President of Assurant Health.

Hamm insisted before the committee that rescission was a necessary tool for Assurant and other health insurance companies to hold the cost of premiums down for other policyholders. Hamm asserted that rescission was "one of many protections supporting the affordability and viability of individual health insurance in the United States under our present system."

He also suggested that those who had their policies rescinded by Assurant had attempted to intentionally mislead his company: "Unfortunately, there are times when we discover that an applicant did not provide complete or accurate medical information when we underwrote the risk," Hamm said.

But state regulators, federal and congressional investigators, and consumer advocates say that in only a tiny percentage of cases of people who have had their health insurance canceled was there a legitimate reason.

A 2007 investigation by a California state regulatory agency, the California Department of Managed Health Care, bore this out. The DMHC randomly selected 90 instances in which Anthem Blue Cross of California, one of WellPoint's largest subsidiaries, canceled the insurance of policy holders after diagnoses with costly or life-threatening illnesses to determine how many were legally justified.

The result: The agency concluded that Anthem Blue Cross lacked legal grounds for canceling policies in every single instance.

"In all 90 files, there was no evidence (that Blue Cross), before rescinding coverage, investigated or established that the applicant's omission/misrepresentation was willful," the DMHC report said.

WRONG DATE

The Fortis underwriter who recommended Mitchell's policy be rescinded had her own doubts that it was correct to do so, according to records the company did produce at trial.

In a reference to the nurse's note with the wrong date, the underwriter wrote to her superiors: "Technically, we do not have the results of the HIV test. This is the only entry in the medical records regarding HIV status. Is this sufficient?"

Relying on the note was dubious, Judge Nettles wrote, because it was included in records from 2002, when Mitchell was in fact diagnosed with HIV, and not in 2001, when he purchased his policy. "The chronological sequence of those records raises an inference that the date on the handwritten note may be erroneous," he wrote.
Moreover, Nettles said, if Mitchell's HIV diagnosis had been a year earlier, as the erroneous note said, Mitchell's medical records would have shown other references to that diagnosis and treatment and he would have sought reimbursement for expenses related to them.

Sallie Phelan, an attorney who represented Mitchell, says her client was bewildered as to why his insurance was canceled -- at first not even contemplating the possibility that there was anything improper going on: "We began representing Jerome when he was still just a boy, really," she said. "He was just this sweet kid with all these drives and ambitions."

Then Mitchell felt betrayed, Phelan says. "He had done everything he was supposed to. He went out and got insurance on his own, at 17. He was a trusting person, perhaps too trustful. And as they kept slamming doors in his face, he thought at first there was some misunderstanding. He couldn't understand what was going on, because he is such an honest person himself. And when they accused him of lying, that was the most harmful to him. He didn't understand why they were accusing them. He didn't understand why people weren't listening to him."

Like other major health insurance companies, Fortis has a "rescission committee" that reviews recommendations to cancel a policyholder's insurance. But in the case of Fortis, Nettles wrote, the committee rarely did more than "rubber stamp" already flawed recommendations.

"There were no rules, no minutes, no notes, and, in accordance with instructions from general counsel not even a record of who was present," the judge wrote about the committee.

During the meeting in which Mitchell's insurance was rescinded, "there were more than 40 other customers, whose cases appeared before the rescission committee for review in no more than one and one half to two hours, representing an average of three minutes or less per customer," he wrote.
According to Nettles, Fortis concealed information through its document retention practice. The company's "stated policy for the last nine years has been to microfilm and destroy all documents," the judge said. "There was also evidence that documents and/or records regarding (Mitchell's) policy were deleted; and that telephone logs and recordings contained key omissions." Fortis also "shredded" documents, he said.

Regarding another piece of key evidence, the judge concluded that "a jury could easily infer that Fortis destroyed and/or concealed" crucial evidence.

Overall, Nettles asserted, a "pattern of secrecy and concealment by Fortis in this case ... supports a high award of punitive damages."

After his insurance was canceled, a case worker with a social agency who works with HIV patients named Mary Wiggins worked tirelessly for Mitchell to find him medical care and to have Fortis reinstate his insurance. Despite deluging Fortis with records and information that should have led to a reversal of the decision, the insurance company simply ignored her. Wiggins found a local clinic that agreed to provide care for Mitchell, in the process very likely saving his life.

Eventually, Mitchell retained legal counsel to have his health insurance reinstated, but Fortis ignored them as well. It was only after the insurance company was sued -- some 22 months after his HIV diagnosis -- that Mitchell's insurance was reinstated.

COST CONTAINMENT

In his order, Nettles said Mitchell's treatment was typical of how Fortis treated patients recently diagnosed with HIV and other life-threatening diseases.

"In addition to these acts toward (Mitchell) there was evidence that Fortis has for some time been making recommendations for rescission, and acting on those recommendations, without good-faith investigation conducted fairly and objectively ... Fortis pre-programed its computer to recognize the billing codes for expensive health conditions, which triggers an automatic fraud investigation by its "Cost Containment" division whenever such a code is recognized."

A federal investigator who has reviewed Assurant's remaining records says that they showed that once a person with HIV was targeted with a fraud investigation, the company made a greater effort than usual to cancel the person's insurance. Policies and medical records were scrutinized to a greater extent than others being scrutinized, he said.

The investigator, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that the motive for focusing on people with HIV was simply the high cost of treating the illness: "We are talking a lifetime of therapy, a lifetime of care ... a lot of bills. Nowadays someone with HIV can live a normal life for decades. This was about money."

No evidence has emerged that any other major American company purged policyholders simply because they had HIV. But an investigation last summer by the House Energy and Commerce Committee as well as earlier ones by state regulators in California, New York and Connecticut, found that thousands of vulnerable and seriously ill policyholders have had their coverage canceled by many of the nation's largest insurance companies without any legal basis. The congressional committee found that three insurance companies alone saved at least $300 million over five years from rescission. One of those three companies was Assurant.

The committee estimated that Assurant alone profited by more than $150 million between 2003 and 2007 from rescission.

During his appearance on June 16 before the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Hamm, the CEO and President of Assurant, urged Congress to pass the new health care legislation, in part, to prevent such practices.

"We can achieve the goal we share -- providing health care coverage for all Americans," Hamm said. "If a system can be created where coverage is available to everyone and all Americans are required to participate, the process we are addressing today, rescission, becomes unnecessary."

(Additional reporting by Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Jim Impoco and Claudia Parsons)

Expert: Using antiretroviral drugs early may curb HIV/AIDS spread

2010-02-21T09:23:00.000-08:00

By Elizabeth Landau, CNNFebruary 20, 2010 8:49 p.m. EST

The ideas of early HIV/AIDS testing and use of antiretroviral drugs have been gaining support worldwide.

Use of antiretroviral drugs in early stages "an important goal" but needs work, professor says

"We could effectively stop transmission within five years," epidemiologist says

Operational research still needs to be done to gauge results, epidemiologist says

San Diego, California (CNN) -- Antiretroviral drugs that are being used to prolong the lives of patients infected with HIV/AIDS could also be greatly effective in slowing its spread, epidemiologist Brian Williams said.

The concentration of the virus drops by a factor of 10,000 with antiretroviral treatment, resulting in 25 times the reduction of infectiousness, said Williams, formerly of the World Health Organization and now at the South African Centre for Epidemiological Modelling and Analysis. That means that if more people with HIV received this therapy early, there would be fewer new cases of the disease, he said Saturday at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"We could effectively stop transmission within five years," Williams said.

About 33 million people are living with HIV, according to 2008 estimates by the World Health Organization and UNAIDS. That year, 2 million people died of AIDS and 2.7 became newly infected.

Because people who have HIV are living longer, and because in some parts of the world behaviors that facilitate transmission have not decreased, there are more new infections every year than deaths, and the epidemic continues to grow, said Dr. Kenneth Mayer, professor of medicine and community health at Brown University.

In a 2009 article in The Lancet, Williams and his colleagues at the World Health Organization advocated for broader use of antiretroviral drugs, proposing that everyone over age 15 should be tested annually for HIV, and that anyone who tests positive should begin antiretroviral treatment immediately.

The need [for treatment] will continue to go up over the next few years ... can we keep up with the pace of the need?

--Dr. Kenneth Mayer, professor of medicine and community health at Brown University

World Health Organization

HIV and AIDS

Contagious and Infectious Diseases

These ideas have been gaining support worldwide, Williams said. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases plans to start a pilot study in New York and Washington, he said. The International Aid Society is doing something similar in British Columbia, and another trial in South Africa will be funded by the French AIDS Research Agency.

Using antiretroviral drugs early to curb transmission is "an important goal" but will take many years to get right in different settings, Mayer said. Beyond the expanded use of medicine, the details of how to get enough people tested and to change their behaviors is "a whole package that needs to be worked out," he said.

Williams agreed that much operational research still needs to be done to determine if people agree to take the drugs and comply with them, and to see if it leads to the predicted stemming of transmission, Williams said.

Offering testing in communities is one way to get at it, he said. One intervention done in Botswana gave HIV tests to anyone who came to a clinic for any reason, resulting in about one test per person each year.

The proposal is expensive -- the cost in South Africa alone would be $3 billion to $4 billion per year, he said. But the plan would save money from the first day because of all of the people today who have to be hospitalized, and because of all of the young people who die in the prime of their lives, he said.

"If you factor all of the costs, the cost of the drugs would be more than balanced by the cost of treating people for all of these other diseases and then letting them die," he said.

But this should not be seen as an alternative to vaccine research and other activities to curb the pandemic, he said. Toward the end of last year the AIDS research community had a burst of optimism with the results of a controversial trial from Thailand, said Dennis Burton of the Scripps Research Institute. Although the validity of the results is still in question, the news was a "very welcome development," Burton said.

"It's important to realize that the HIV vaccine problem is not one of development," Burton said. There are still many discovery steps that need to be made, and if an effective vaccine could be designed, that would revolutionize the entire study of vaccines for infectious diseases, he said.

In the United States, 20 to 25 percent of Americans living with HIV are unaware of their status, Mayer said. When people are unaware, there are more likely to have unprotected sex and engage in other risky behaviors, increasing the risk of transmission, he said. About 1 million Americans have HIV, he said.

Some people are at high risk for getting AIDS by virtue of where they live, he said. A black male in Washington has about a 1 in 15 or 1 in 16 chance of being infected with HIV, and the probability for a black woman is 1 in 30, Mayer said. This is similar to Detroit, Michigan, and other urban centers. Transmission also is relatively high in gay communities where people who do not engage in risky behavior have risky partners.

"The need [for treatment] will continue to go up over the next few years, and the question is, can we keep up with the pace of the need?" Mayer said.

Herpes Drug Might Also Slow HIV Progression

2010-02-15T07:29:00.000-08:00

But acyclovir is not a replacement for HIV-specific drugs, researchers say

Feb. 15 (HealthDay News) -- New research suggests that people who are infected with both HIV-1, a strain of the AIDS virus, and herpes simplex virus type 2 could benefit in more than one way by taking a herpes drug called acyclovir. In addition to treating herpes, the medication appears to also slow the progression of HIV.

"While the HIV-disease ameliorating effect we have observed is modest, it could add one more tool to help people with HIV infection stay healthy for longer," study co-author Dr. Jairam Lingappa, of the University of Washington, said in a news release from The Lancet.

The study, published online in the journal, analyzed what happened to almost 3,400 people in Africa who were infected with both diseases.

Half were assigned to take 400 milligrams of acyclovir twice a day, and the others took a placebo. Researchers tracked their progress for up to 24 months.

The risk of HIV progression was reduced by 16 percent in those who took acyclovir, the study found.

However, other research has suggested that acyclovir does not prevent transmission of HIV to heterosexual partners by people who take the drug, the scientists said.

The researchers said that other AIDS drugs would have a greater impact on the progression of HIV in those who were infected. But , acyclovir could be an option for people who had not progressed far enough to need antiretroviral therapy, they said.

The first annual HIV/AIDS Oregon Zoo Day

2010-02-13T20:27:00.000-08:00

When
Sunday, April 11th, 2010
11 AM - 6 PM Annual Oregon Zoo Day for People living with HIV/AIDS

The first annual HIV/AIDS Zoo Day is happening April 11 and is sponsored by the PSA.
Other partners in the Zoo Day are Cascade AIDS Project. Other Organization can contact us to become a sponsor and part of the event.

Who Can Attend?
Anyone can attend and show their support for people who are living and struggling with HIV/AIDS.

No Cost Admissions Available to all HIV Positive Clients.
We have received a grant of free adult admissions that can be used for people who have HIV/AIDS, their Spouse, Partner and up to 4 family immediate members on a first come, first served basis. You must be placed on the RSVP list to receive free admissions.

Even if you don't get the free tickets, please come and support HIV/AIDS Awareness by coming to the zoo.

What should we wear?
While there is no requirement, Marc Peterson, PSA Director and Michael Kaplan, CAP Director have both suggested that participants wear their AIDSWalk or Positive Force or Screw Stigma shirts, pins or stickers to show awareness of the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

How to get Free Admission Tickets
Free admission tickets are available to actual clients who are living with HIV/AIDS. Additional free admission tickets are available to the clients Partner, Spouse or Caretaker. Clients who have children are encouraged to reserve tickets as well. Please limit the total number of tickets to (4) four admissions, so that actual Positive Clients receive the free admission benefit.

If you are interested in coming to this event and receive free admission tickets, you must RSVP with Marc Peterson at the PSA as soon as possible. Email oregonevents@gmail.com
or call (503) 278-8992 (please leave a voicemail and a number to call you back if we are away from the office).

Is there a RSVP deadline?
Yes, the deadline to get signed up for free admission passes is Monday, April 5th, 2010. Free passes will go fast, so RSVP quickly.

Where do I pick up my Admission Passes?
Pickup your passes at the Zoo entrance area. The PSA or CAP will have a table (or other representative) available between the hours of 11 AM until 1 PM only.

Passes will be handed out to those who are the RVSP list. Any extra guests should be prepared to purchase a regular zoo admission. At 1 PM, if there are any extra free passes, they will be handed out on a first come, first served basis.

Once you are inside, have a blast and enjoy yourselves. Make sure you stop and say hello to anyone who is wearing HIV/AIDS awareness shirts, pins or stickers.

Zoo Location & Admission Rates
(if you don't get on the RSVP free admission list first)

General Admission (12-64) $10.50
Seniors (65 and over) $9.00
Youth (3-11) $7.50
Children (2 and under) are always free

RSVP Admission does NOT include the normal Parking of $2 per car

Ride MAX and Get $1.50 Off regular Admission!

The zoo accepts the following payments at the entrance:

VISA, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and Cash
Please, no personal checks or money orders.

Oregon Zoo Phone 503-226-1561

Oregon Zoo Address
4001 SW Canyon Road
Portland, Oregon 97221

Directions
The zoo is located five minutes west of downtown Portland on Highway 26. Watch for the signs. The zoo is the first exit from this highway. more info

Parking & Transportation
$2 per vehicle. 960 spaces, 17 disabled person spaces. A shuttle runs from the next freeway exit on busy days. Or take the TriMet Light Rail Service (MAX) which stops at the Washington Park station approximately every ten minutes.

PSA Event HIV/AIDS Symposium at Lewis & Clark University

2010-02-13T20:20:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, March 11, 2010
11 AM -2 PM PSA HIV/AIDS Talk Presentation

Several members of the PSA have been invited to speak at the 29th Annual Lewis & Clark College Gender Studies Symposium. The presentation will include talks by people living with HIV/AIDS. An open question & answer session will also occur after the talks.

When
The presentation will occur on Wednesday, March 11, 2010 from 11 AM - 2 PM.

The presenting speakers will present the topic of
"Living with HIV/AIDS: Stories of Courage in the Face of Fear and Stigma"

Where
The Gender Studies Symposium is located at Stamm Hall, Templeton Student Center
615 S.W. Palatine Hill Road, Portland.

About the Symposium
The public is welcome to attend, please click the picture or this link to go view the entire 2 day program of this wonderful event.

Vote YES on 66 & 67, and here is WHY YOU NEED TO!

2010-01-23T15:40:00.001-08:00

Williams Institute Releases Report on Ill Effects of Defeating Measures 66 and 67; CAP and OSBC Support Approval

Two legislative tax initiatives on the ballot for Oregon’s Special Election on January 26 have the potential to substantially decrease spending on social services and programs, reports a study from The Williams Institute at UCLA Law School. According to the report drafted by Williams Institute Research Associate Christopher Ramos those most negatively affected by this decrease would be individuals and families in Oregon’s gay, lesbian, bi and trans community, particularly those who are poor, families with children, the elderly, youth in institutionalized settings, and those living with HIV/AIDS.

Oregonians have the opportunity to vote in favor of or against Measures 66 and 67. Measure 66 would increase the marginal tax rate on personal income above $125,000 for individuals, and above $250,000 for couples; Measure 67 would increase the $10 minimum corporate tax, as well as increase marginal tax rates for businesses earning above $250,000. If approved, these increases would assist Oregon in confronting its budget shortfalls by increasing revenues by as much as $730 million. If defeated, the potential budget crisis faced by services and programs that assist the gay, lesbian, bi and trans community could usher in a significant threat to those services and programs.

The report unearths the economic diversity within Oregon’s GLBT population, revealing that 1,200 gay, lesbian, or bi individuals living in the state are doing so in poverty. Surveys of transgender people also show a consistently high rate of unemployment and poverty. The Department of Human Services (DHS) responded to a request from the Oregon Legislative Fiscal Office, listing programs most likely to see budget cuts should the measures be defeated, including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Community Mental Health Program Contracts, Medicaid Personal Care Program, State Immunization Program, specific Medicaid optional services, and general education and outreach.

The same worrisome cuts appear in the budgets for HIV/AIDS programs. One proposed cut would eliminate $753,000 from the state budget for HIV, STD, and tuberculosis treatment funding. This would result in lack of treatment for some 7,900 STD cases, and approximately 450 individuals would not be notified about STD exposure. Another potential proposed cut would take almost $850,000 away from Oregon’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which DHS says may result in waiting lists for people with HIV to get drug assistance.

These are just two of the reasons why Cascade AIDS Project, historically a politically neutral organization, has decided to take a stand and support the approval of Measures 66 and 67. Citing the 75 percent cut of all funding to HIV prevention and testing in California’s legislature, CAP Executive Director Michael Kaplan outlined the terrifying impact in the long-term when decisions are made to balance the budget in the short.

In a press release issued in December, Kaplan explained that while no one wants more taxation, failure to ensure addressing the needs of the most vulnerable today is not a plan for savings, but simply deferment of greater expenses.

It is for these reasons that Cascade AIDS Project is signing on in support of Measures 66 and 67, wrote Kaplan. Should these measures fail, we will be looking at drastic cuts to a broad net of services that our communities and our clients rely on. From health care to education and reproductive health to mental health we cannot allow today’s economic challenges to undermine the health of our citizens, our neighbors, and our families.

The decision to publicly back the approval of increasing taxes on the very organizations and individuals, who support CAP, Kaplan continued, was not an easy decision.

To be clear, this is not about punishing those who do well, be they corporate or individual, as we are quite aware how the generosity of many corporations and individuals throughout the state makes our work possible. This is about guaranteeing that the care of our most vulnerable citizens is not left to the generosity of well-off citizens and corporations alone, but rather that, through public policy, we ensure services exist where needed.

The Oregon Small Business Council has also come out publicly to endorse a yes vote on Measures 66 and 67, citing the importance of preserving essential services and the soft impact the measures have on small business.

These measures are necessary footholds to maintain vital services in tough times, said OSBC Board Chair Mark Kellenbeck of Cascade Management in Grants Pass via press release. Small businesses will be minimally impacted while more dollars spent will remain in Oregon.

Ballots for Oregon’s Special Election will be mailed to registered voters between January 8 and 12. Ballots must be returned to your county elections office by 8 p.m. January 26.

Portland Television News Station let the HIV/AIDS Community down!

2009-12-06T18:57:00.000-08:00

World AIDS Day was celebrated by thousands all over Portland and SW Washington including the PSA participating in and support Michael Kaplan over at Cascade AIDS Project 'Remembrance Vigil and AIDS Walk to City Hall'

Unfortunately, even though KGW, KATU, KPTV and KOIN were invited to cover many of the AIDS Vigils all around Portland and SW Washington, not one station showed up to cover and report on any of the events.

Recordings of the News that evening and the next day proved that our local TV Stations failed to provide any support for people living with HIV or AIDS.

The PSA sent a letter to each of these local stations to ask WHY they did not show up. Unfortunately, not one station manager returned our calls or had the courtesy to email us back.

SHAME ON YOU 'NEWS MEDIA PORTLAND'

Don't be a Dork by believing what your HIV Doctor has to say!

2009-12-06T18:47:00.000-08:00

A good Physician will tell you to "get a second opinion."

A good friend will tell you to "take a second look."

Your inner voice constantly tells you to "be aware of what people are telling you."

So, here I am feeling guilty for finally making an appointment for a 'second opinion' with a brand new HIV Care Doctor.

I mean I absolutely love my existing Doctor, however, when you get the feeling they are at 'the extent of their HIV Care knowledge' it is definitely try to go get a second opinion.

For instance, when you are having odd side effects to your meds that you did not used to have and report it to your doctor and they look 'stumped' by your new aches and pains, it's time to go get a second opinion.

When you are having other HIV related effects such as intense aches and pains in muscles and joint, Neuropathies, Burning r tingling in your hands or feet. Sore back or neck, you need to get a second opinion.

In summary, if you are hurting, in pain, or having weird side effects from either your HIV or your meds, it’s time to get a second opinion with a new local HIV Care Doctor.

If you need help finding a new Doctor in this area, please check out updated HIV Doc list located here: www.positive-support.org/oregon.htm

Or email or call us anytime for some ideas.

Atlanta Cops Sued for unwarranted Gay Bar raid!

2009-11-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

The Atlanta Eagle was unlawfully raided
A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of 19 patrons who were detained in a police raid on a gay bar in Atlanta, US.

The raid happened on Thursday September 10th at the Atlanta Eagle after anonymous callers said they had seen drug use and men having sex at the bar.

The lawsuit, filed by Lambda Legal, claims that excessive force was used by officers from the Atlanta Police Department and patrons were subjected to homophobic slurs.

During the raid, people were made to lie on the floor for up to two hours while witnesses reported hearing police make comments such as “This is a lot more fun than raiding niggers with crack" and "I hate gay people".

No evidence of illegal sex or drug use was found. Eight employees were arrested for not having the correct permits for dancing.

The suit claims that patrons were not allowed to get up despite some lying in broken glass and one having injured his back during service in the Iraq war.

It said that excessive force had been used by officers, including the unnecessary use of handcuffs, and that some patrons had been shoved or kicked to the floor. The suit added that patrons had heard anti-gay slurs.

It said: "These actions were taken without particularised reasonable suspicion or probable cause to believe that any individual patron, let alone every person at the establishment, was involved in criminal activity whatsoever."

Greg Nevins, supervising senior staff attorney at Lambda Legal's Atlanta office, said: "The illegal activity going on in the Atlanta Eagle that night was committed by the APD.

"If it is APD procedure for elderly men and wounded veterans to be thrown to the floor and harassed simply for being in a bar having a drink after work, then the APD should change its procedures."

The suit names Atlanta police chief Richard Pennington and 48 officers who were present at the raid.

It seeks damages and alleges that some officers committed crimes of false imprisonment, assault, battery and trespassing.

Earlier this year, a Texas gay bar was raided on the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which were hailed as the birth of the gay rights movement.

Three officers from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission were fired after an investigation into the raid on the Rainbow Lounge in Fort Worth

Sending out lines through my dementia..

2009-11-23T09:41:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting here trying to get inspired to leave you all something today that might make you feel just a little better. But who am I kidding; I can't really make any of you feel better about your own lives, except for the fact that you may be healthy, even though you most likely aren't a particularly happy person, nobody really is. I have it easy because I can be as pissy and bitchy as I want to be (or so I think) cuz' I'm dying faster and feeling shittier than you are right now.

Life pretty much sucks for the adult who finally has grown up and realized all life is tough and never was all that fun anyway. We delude ourselves into a false sense of reality almost every minute of our day.

Before I got this disease, I honestly steered clear of those folks that were infected.
I lost good friends because I was a total dick, but in reality, I was just a scared little bastard.
I was scared that I would get the same disease just by hanging around people that were HIV Positive.

Well, here I am, laying here typing out 'lies through my dementia' to the extent that I don’t even make sense.

Maybe it is that Karma bullshit coming around, I don't know and as I get closer to my big 'leaping off' point, I'm not in the mood to care.

Can I tell you how angry and pissed off I get at my demise? My mind races from feeling sorry for myself, but really sorry more for my body as this disease is slowly wearing it down.

I am coming out of my body and separating it from my mind/spirit more and more lately. I don't have the words to actually explain the how or why's with that statement, but rest assured its happening more and more.

Sometimes I pop out and look back at my body from my mind’s eye. I see a young man that has aged too quickly, I see a boy still trying to peer out of those worn out eyes. I see myself.