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MAP Advocate
HIV Advocacy Update
January 25, 2005
Vol. 11, No. 2
Take Action! Attend Tonight's MAP Community Forum
Programs intended to provide insurance coverage and assistance to purchase
HIV drug treatments are literally falling apart in state-after-state. Minnesota
is no exception. So far, the best the Pawlenty administration has come
up with is to ask low income persons living with HIV to dig into their
own pockets to fill the growing gap in funding and to start making plans
for how to ration their health care with a waiting list. There are alternatives,
and tonight's MAP community forum is the place to find out what they might
be. "Ensuring Survival: The Case for New Approaches
to HIV Health Care" will feature David Holtgrave of the Emory Centers
for AIDS Research. Holtgrave served on a national panel that studied needed
changes in HIV health care financing. He will speak at 7 p.m. tonight
at Macalester College. The forum is free and will take place in the Student
Center on the corner of Snelling and Grand. Knowing the facts is the first
step in effective advocacy, so we hope to see you tonight!
Expect Less in the Fight Against HIV in Pawlenty's
Budget
Governor Pawlenty will release his budget proposal today for the state's
2006 and 2007 fiscal years. The governor has already taken to describing
the promise of health care access for all Minnesotans as a "welfare program"
in last week's State of the State address, so don't expect to see the
gap in health care access to close in Minnesota. In fact, we anticipate
proposals that will effectively eliminate General Assistance Medical Care
for the state's poorest residents, causing persons living with HIV who
depend upon state-funded health care to turn to the so-called HH program
-- Minnesota's insurance and drug assistance program for persons with
HIV. The HH program is already facing a projected $10 million gap over
the next two years, and we are not expecting the governor will do anything
about that except to impose some type of service rationing scheme (probably
as a sneak attack this summer after the legislature leaves town, as was
the case with last year's HH program cost share plan). Needed increases
in HIV prevention funding to address the challenge of the expanding epidemic
among the state's African-born residents? Restoring funding for comprehensive
sexual health education that went away as part of the first round of the
governor's "no new taxes" cuts? Don't count on it. What you can count
on is an analysis of how the Pawlenty budget responds to HIV later this
week on the MAP Public Policy page at http://www.mnaidsproject.org/
.
HIV Health Care, Comp Sex Ed and More in the
Works for 2005 Session
MAP's public policy staff is busy getting bills drafted and ready for
introduction. You can expect a call for action to repair and fully fund
the HH program so low income Minnesotan's living with HIV have access
to health care. You can also expect to see a renewed push to guarantee
that all Minnesota schools provide sexual health education that is comprehensive,
fact-based, and reflects sound public health policies. With 21 percent
of all new HIV infections in Minnesota affecting African-born residents,
MAP will introduce legislation to increase state funding for HIV prevention
programs targeting this emerging part of the HIV epidemic. Careful handling
of HIV health information has been a chronic problem. Look for MAP to
introduce legislation addressing confidential handling of HIV health information. And
finally, while the governor prefers to call health care for low income
people a welfare program, MAP prefers to talk about health care as a basic
right . We'll be among the leaders introducing legislation to make
access to health care a constitutional right in Minnesota.
City Pages Profiles the Global Epidemic in Minnesota
The realities of the global epidemic in our own backyard hit the front
page of City Pages on January 11. The article, " AIDS:
A Small World Afterall ," made it abundantly clear why Minnesota cannot
afford its continued "no new taxes" march toward cutting health care for
it low income residents and flat-funding HIV prevention and public health
in the face of growing needs. MAP will be hosting a roundtable meeting
with key legislators on February 7 to talk about the need for increased
funding for HIV prevention targeting African born residents.
Who Can You Call for HIV Info?
Want more details about what's going on with HIV at the State Capitol
or in Washington? Feel free to contact any of MAP's staff working on HIV
policies. Elizabeth Dickinson
is the community affairs manager leading our work at the State Capitol. She's
being helped by Warren Ortland
, our legal and policy researcher. Cate Nelson joins the public policy
team as community affairs coordinator on February 1st. She will be coordinating
our organizing activities. Bob
Tracy , MAP's development director, manages our public policy work
and is the lead contact for Washington D.C. advocacy.
MAP Public Policy and Hollywood: The Inside Scoop
And now for the really important stuff. Sure, there's the governor's budget
announcement today. And yes, we have an important community forum tonight. But,
what about the Oscar nominations? You have probably all heard about the
conspiratorial link between policy groups such as MAP and the Hollywood
elite. Well, it's true. MAP public policy depends upon you buying tickets
for MAP's annual Hollywood Academy Awards party. We are the oldest and
the coldest Oscar Night America party in America. And when you buy a
ticket, you make it possible for MAP public policy to do its work at the
State Capitol. In addition to benefitting MAP, our Oscar Night on Ice
supports District 202. Click here
for more information about Hollywood 2005!
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