Take Action: Attend a Roundtable Discussion with the Global Coalition
on Women and AIDS
The Global
Coalition on Women and AIDS
The Link Between Violence and HIV, A Roundtable Discussion
Date: Wednesday, June 14
Time:
11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Light lunch will
be provided
Location:
Humbert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs
Cowles Auditorium
301 19th Avenue
South
Minneapolis, Minnesota
55455
Free and open to the public
and the media
In This Issue:
25 Years of AIDS
On Monday, June 5 the world recognized the 25th anniversary of AIDS. On that date in 1981 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued the initial warning about a disease that would later become known as AIDS. Since its debut, AIDS has become a global pandemic affecting people from all walks of life. AIDS has affected more individuals than any other epidemic in modern history.
“AIDS at 25” Resources and articles
Star Tribune
Editorial: After
25 Years, AIDS Still Prevails
Kaiser Family Foundation
AIDS at
25: An Overview of Major Trends in the U.S. Epidemic
Frontline
The
Age of AIDS
Minnesota Update: Coordinated School Health Web Site
On Friday, May 12 a “Special Alert” MAP Advocate provided an update and call to action regarding the Coordinated School Health (CSH) Web site because the State of Minnesota had blocked access to this site. A local organization, EdWatch, has taken credit for pressuring Governor Pawlenty to address the CSH Web site. EdWatch stated that “a Coordinated School Health Program website…has been promoting homosexual advocacy groups”.
Advocates have called and emailed
the Governor to request that the site be reposted in its original form,
without restrictions on HIV prevention and sexual health information.
Unfortunately, the state has yet to repost this site. It has been nearly
a month since it was taken down and there is no known timeline for reposting.
The MAP Advocate will continue to keep you updated on this situation.
Federal Update: Senator Dayton Signs on to TrOOP Legislation
Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) has co-sponsored Medicare True Out-of-Pocket Costs (TrOOP) Fairness legislation. Sen. Dayton along with the TrOOP legislation’s author, Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) are pushing this legislation in order to assure fairness for low income HIV-positive individuals.
Under current law, costs incurred by AIDS Drug Assistance Programs on behalf of Medicare Part D enrollees during their coverage gap (i.e. while the enrollee is in the so-called “doughnut hole” and is responsible for 100 percent of their drug costs) are not permitted to count for TrOOP purposes. In turn, many individuals with HIV/AIDS are never able to ever reach the catastrophic limit (the point at which Medicare would pay 95 percent of the beneficiary’s drug costs). As a result, these beneficiaries are forced to pay premiums to their Medicare drug plan and to absorb the monthly drug costs for a benefit they are not able to access.
Sen. Bingaman’s legislation would remedy this problem by allowing Medicare Part D-related costs incurred by an AIDS Drug Assistance Program to count toward a beneficiary’s TrOOP expenses, ensuring that all Part D enrollees are permitted appropriate access to the catastrophic coverage.
Thank Senator Dayton for co-sponsoring the Medicare True Out-of-Pocket Costs (TrOOP) Fairness legislation.
Call Senator Dayton
at: 202-224-3244
Email
Senator Dayton
Federal Update: SEICUS Launches No More Money For Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs Campaign
Beginning June 7, the House of Representatives will be considering the
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies spending
bill. This is the spending bill that decides funding levels for, among
other things, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
Last year, abstinence-only-until-marriage programs received a total of
$178 million dollars from the federal government. This year, the President
has proposed increasing funding for these programs to $204 million. The
entire $26 million increase is slated for the Community-Based Abstinence
Education (CBAE) account, by far the most restrictive of all of the abstinence-only-until-marriage
grant programs. This is the same program that was the subject of Rep.
Henry Waxman’s 2004 expose in which 11 out of 13 of the most commonly
used curricula were found to contain outrageous medical inaccuracies,
such as telling young people that HIV can be transmitted through sweat
and tears. And the government has done nothing to fix the problems or
even stopped funding those programs using these medically inaccurate curricula!
The Minnesota AIDS Project has signed onto a letter targeting the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee (Labor-HHS), to oppose any funding for abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
This Federal Update
was Adapted from SIECUS, No
More Money Campaign
Announcement: Look for MAP at These Community Events in June
Juneteenth
MAP’s Injection Drug Use (IDU) Outreach Program along with Access
Works will have a presence at Juneteenth on Saturday, June 18 at Theodore
Wirth Park.
Juneteenth is the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the ending of slavery in the United States. From its Galveston, Texas origin in 1865, the observance of June 19th as the African American Emancipation Day has spread across the United States and beyond. This year will mark the 140th Anniversary of Juneteenth.
Click here for more information.
Twin Cities Pride
MAP will have a booth at the Twin Cities Pride Festival on Saturday, June
24 and Sunday, June 25. MAP will also have a presence in the Pride Parade
on Sunday.
The mission of GLBT Pride/Twin Cities is to commemorate and celebrate our diverse heritage, inspire the achievement of equality and challenge discrimination.
Click here for more information.
What Do You Know?!?
“think MTV” and the Kaiser Family Foundation Announce First-Ever Multi-Media Community to Give American Youth Voice on HIV/AIDS
Campaign Features New User-Generated-Content Show and National HIV Vlogging Contest
Click
here for more information.
Visit the MAP Advocate archive to see what you missed.
For more information about what's of interest to you at the Minnesota State Capitol, visit the Web sites of our allies at OutFront Minnesota and Sex Ed for Life.
MAP Advocate is published by the Minnesota AIDS Project every two weeks while the Minnesota Legislature is in session, and monthly during the rest of the year. It isavailable through the MAP web site mnaidsproject.org and through email list service. If you wish to order the MAP Advocate, visit our Join the Action Network page, or contact MAP Public Policy by phone or email.
MAP Public Policy
Minnesota AIDS Project
1400 Park Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55404
612-341-2060
800-373-2437
public.policy@mnaidsproject.org
Mission & Values | Executive Director | Board of Directors | Annual Report | Publications | Calendar of Events | Employment | Contact Us
Last Updated:
Friday, March 30, 2007
[an error occurred while processing this directive]