The Affordable Care Act and People Living with HIV/AIDS Review

One of the questions I get frequently is “how is the Affordable Care Act (the health care law of 2010) helping people living with HIV/AIDS?” The short answer is: in many ways. The detailed answer is more complex, but also much more exciting.

To provide a more comprehensive answer to this important inquiry, we recently worked with our colleagues in the HHS Office of Health Reform to update a fact sheet about how the Affordable Care Act is particularly important for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), as well as other people living with serious medical conditions. The Affordable Care Act puts in place strong consumer protections, provides new coverage options and gives you the tools you need to make informed choices about your health. Among the ways the ACA is helping PLWHAs are the following:

    Ensuring that AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) benefits are now considered as contributions toward a Medicare beneficiary’s true Out of Pocket Spending Limit for drug coverage, a huge relief for low-income beneficiaries living with HIV and AIDS because it helps them move through the “donut hole” more quickly;

    Improving access to coverage and protecting people with HIV/AIDS now by making available a Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan in every state and making important insurance reforms to protect people from insurance company abuses;

    Offering quality coverage to every person with HIV/AIDS in 2014 and beyond via Medicaid expansion, additional insurance reforms, and closing the “Donut Hole;”

    Ensuring people have quality care, good insurance coverage, and the information they need to find it; and

    Increasing opportunities for health, well-being, and cultural competency.

As HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius observed in her World AIDS Day statement last month, so many of our current HIV/AIDS efforts “build on a foundation laid by the health care law, the Affordable Care Act, which dramatically expands access to coverage for people with HIV/AIDS. The law also bans the worst insurance abuses so that insurance companies can no longer deny coverage to people with HIV and other conditions or cancel coverage when someone gets sick or makes an error on a form. Under the health care law, we’re also expanding Medicaid so that it will be available to many more Americans with HIV/AIDS, including single adults.”

Learn more details in the fact sheet (PDF 33KB) about what the health care law does to help people with HIV/AIDS.

1 Mission St
San Francisco, CA 94109
Serving San Francisco and surrounding area

(800) 823-7249

Day 265: Wasn’t this news released last December? Review

I am never opposed to more press coverage of HIV, but the big story today seems to be an old one. The CDC reports that instead of the approximately 40,000 new HIV infections in the U.S every year, in 2006 we actually had about 56,000 new infections. That’s a huge difference. They used a new surveillance method to come up with this number.

As you may note (as carried in this blog), the same data were released on World AIDS Day last year. The Wall Street Journal reported then that the U.S. incidence was about 60,000.  The CDC is saying this is a wake-up call—but the wake-up call should have been (at least) 8 months ago! Well, we’ve never done enough on HIV, and I don’t think the increased U.S. incidence estimates will do anything to change that. Should we start taking bets on whether HIV gets any debate time in the upcoming elections?


24th Street-Mission Bart Station
San Francisco, CA 94110
Neighborhood: Mission

Man Bites Orange County Deputy, Says He Has HIV Review

There was a shocking attack against an Orange County sheriff's deputy. A man suspected of having HIV is charged with attempted murder for allegedly biting a deputy.
The incident began as the 32-year-old suspect ran from a Shell gas station with a bag in hand. He didn't get far, just to the Greyhound bus station, where deputies already happened to be. He wouldn't stop and, even after one taser prong, he kept kicking and fighting. When Roderick Mayes was finally restrained, the deputy who was attacked noticed a bright red bite mark on his arm.
It started as nothing more than a petty theft at the Shell gas station off John Young Parkway. According to the owner, Mayes was making a dash with some stolen goods. He was spotted by members of the Orange Sheriff's Office tactical unit who said Mayes had no intention of stopping.
"When they tried to put cuffs on the bad guy, he tried to bite one oh them. He did, he just didn't break the skin," said Sgt. Spike Hopkins, who is a supervisor for the unit.
According to the report, once Mayes was finally restrained, the deputy who was bitten asked the suspect not once but two times if he had AIDS or HIV. Twice he said no, but once he was in a patrol car Mayes allegedly said, "I'm glad I bit him. I have HIV."
The deputy who was assaulted is back on duty or will be shortly; his wife just had a baby. As for Mayes, he's in jail. The attempted murder charge may be downgraded based on the results of the blood test.
Either way, if he hopes to get out he'll have to agree to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

941 Cole St
(between Carl St & Parnassus Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94117
Neighborhood: Cole Valley

(415) 564-5332

AHF Pharmacy Review

I'm really glad this place opened inside the Duboce Triangle Out of the Closet.  All the people who work here a really friendly, and they seem truly committed to what they do.  While waiting for my prescriptions to be filled, I've watched the staff really helpfully answer questions, and it seems like they know their customers well.

A pharmacy in a thrift store?  Yup, you bet.  Like Out of the Closet itself, AHF Pharmacy is a nonprofit whose earnings get put back into the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.  I really like this funding model for a few reasons.  First, it gives me yet another opportunity to get something I already need without padding anyone's pockets, and second, it's really nice for a nonprofit to actually be able to at least partially fund itself rather than relying solely on grants, which often come with strings attached.

AHF Pharmacy is a full-service pharmacy, so you can get any prescription filled here.

If the ridiculousness of the for-profit healthcare model is beginning to disturb you, why not get your prescriptions filled at AHF Pharmacy?

"But, John S.," you say, "you're being inconsistent.  Don't you say in a review of a non-chain pharmacy that people should support the little guy instead of Walgreens, Rite Aid, and CVS?  And isn't the little guy the neighborhood independent pharmacy?  And isn't the neighborhood independent pharmacy a for-profit enterprise?"  Wow, I'm really impressed by your proper use of commas and question marks, and your reasoning also seems impeccable.  To answer your questions, I did say all that, and I still think you should give AHF your business.

Look, I love old-school pharmacies.  I wish there were more of them.  I wish they could supplant the Walgreenses of the world.  But the only independent pharmacy I know of in San Francisco that still serves individuals--there used to be another one close to my house but they now only serve St. Mary's patients--is in the 450 Sutter building.  My dermatologist is also in that building, so when I get a prescription when I'm there, I'll gladly patronize that mom and pop.  But I'm not about to trek to Union Square every time I need a prescription filled; I will, however, go the extra mile--er, 0.82 miles--to support AHF Pharmacy.

100 Church St
(between Duboce Ave & Reservoir St)
San Francisco, CA 94114
Neighborhoods: Hayes Valley, Castro

(415) 552-0350

Human Rights Key in Combating AIDS Among Gay Men: WHO Review

Safeguarding the human rights of gay men is an important part of the fight against AIDS, a World Health Organization official said Monday in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the 16th International Conference on AIDS and STIs in Africa. "If you want to achieve zero new infections, you have to address the human rights issues," Ying-Ru Lo said. "We must ensure the well-being of the most marginalized groups." Stigma and discrimination are blocking access to AIDS treatment and thus boosting HIV infection rates among gay men in developing countries, she said. In lower-income nations, men who have sex with men are 19 times more likely to contract HIV, according to a 2011 WHO report. Homosexuality remains illegal in more than 75 nations and is highly stigmatized in Africa, the region hit hardest by HIV/AIDS. Beginning to speak openly about homosexuality is a critical first step, said Teguest Guerma, director-general of the African Medical and Research Foundation: "In the past they were really underground; at least now they are coming to the surface." ICASA has scheduled three sessions on the rights of MSM affected by HIV/AIDS.

5 S Wabash Ave
17th floor
Chicago, IL 60603
Neighborhood: The Loop

(312) 857-1700

The Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence Review

What a wonderful group of people with such a great cause. The Sisters have done some extraordinary outreach work especially concerning HIV/AIDS. And by making a joke out of the Catholic church and it's convents, and mixing in the fabulous drag element makes it that much greater. Any group that goes out and makes a scene, I have major respect for. The Sisters can be found at many public free events around SF, or sometimes just walking around the mall in full drag. How cool is that? I've met quite a few sisters and I have not met anyone with bigger hearts and more passion and drive to make a change and help the community. Anyone who says this group is offensive is a judgmental homophobic prick who does not understand satire, or really what the sisters are all about.

584 Castro St
Ste 392
(between 18th St & 19th St)
San Francisco, CA 94114
Neighborhood: Castro

(415) 820-9697

AHF Pharmacy Review

This not-for-profit pharmacy is open to the public and conveniently located at the corner of Church and Duboce st., inside the Out of the Closet store. Though the pharmacy specializes in HIV meds, it also carries a wide variety of non HIV medications and over the counter items and offers automated 24-hour prescription refills and free, discreet home delivery.In addition, for the sports supplements afficionados out there, the pharmacy also carries a wide variety of sports nutrition supplements for VERY competitive prices compared to GNC or the local gyms. And and if feeling philantrophic while picking up your meds is your thing, it helps to know that 96¢ of every dollar earned by the AHF pharmacies directly fund AIDS Healthcare Foundation's HIV/AIDS programs domestically and abroad! Now, that leaves you feeling pretty good!

100 Church St
(between Duboce Ave & Reservoir St)
San Francisco, CA 94114
Neighborhoods: Hayes Valley, Castro

(415) 552-0350