July 20, 2006
Vol. 12. No. 19
In This Issue:
Walk Your Talk: Tell Senators: No More Money For Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage Programs
Beginning July 18, the United States Senate began consideration of 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. We need to let Senators know that we do not support funding for these unproven programs!
The Minnesota AIDS Project supports
effective comprehensive sexuality education in the effort to prevent HIV.
TAKE ACTION: Please contact Senators
Mark Dayton (DFL) and Norm Coleman (R) and request that No More Money
be spent on abstinence-only-until-marriage programs.
Call Senator Dayton
at: 202-224-3244
Email
Senator Dayton
Call Senator Coleman
at: 202-224-5641
Email
Senator Coleman
Minnesota Update: Governor’s Race Appears to Be Neck and Neck
Click here to find out more about the Star Tribune poll results. The Minnesota AIDS Project believes that voting is of vital importance in the fight to stop HIV.
Read
more about the candidates for Governor.
Click
here to learn about how to register to vote.
Federal Update: ADAP TrOOP Legislation Introduced
Legislation has been introduced to allow Medicare Part D-related costs
incurred by the federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) to
count toward a beneficiary’s True Out-of-Pocket Costs (TrOOP) expenses,
ensuring that all Part D enrollees are permitted appropriate access to
the catastrophic coverage. Senator Mark Dayton (D-MN) has co-sponsored
Medicare True Out-of-Pocket Costs (TrOOP) Fairness legislation.
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 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.
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
2006 Election Tip of the Week: How to Register to Vote
Voter registration forms are available at county courthouses, city halls
and other public buildings throughout the state, in many telephone books,
in your state tax booklet (in even-numbered years) or by downloading a
copy by clicking
here.
You may also register to vote when you apply for or renew your Minnesota
driver's license or state identification card.
Click here
for answers to all questions related to voting.
Read All About It: Editorial: The FDA acts on AIDS drugs at last
The Star Tribune Editorial
page contained commentary on the Bush Administration’s and the Food
and Drug Administration’s (FDA) reluctance to deliver the three
most common antiretroviral drugs in a single pill. Click
here to read the editorial in its entirety.
Announcement: Fringe Festival Features Play With HIV-Positive Story Line
Bitter Boy’s
Musical Journey From Negative To Positive
Steven grew up thinking his family was like THE KENNEDYS: the musical.
Kind of like CAMELOT, but with snappier dialogue and a dream ballet. Turns
out, he was right ... in a way. He just never realized that Camelot could
crumble, we can't all be Leslie Ann Warren in CINDERELLA, and perhaps
your dream ballet involves a demon not a prince. Join Steven's funny and
touching journey through Camelot, his parent's divorce, relationships,
the internet, the search for approval, a dream ballet with the devil and
finally his trip to a clinic in the Twin Cities ... and to the ultimate
realization that the people in his life have changed him for good. And,
he can get through anything with an "accept it before it destroys
you" attitude ...even 60 minutes of clever dialogue and show tunes.
Click
here for show times.
What Do You Know?!?
"Parents Recruited for School HIV Program" article featured in Washington Post
This fall, Washington, D.C.
school administrators will roll out a new program in which parents will
help educate students about HIV. Parents as Teachers Coordinating Health
Education Strategies (PATCHES) aims to place parents part time in elementary,
middle, and high schools to assist with age-appropriate curricula. Read
More.
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
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Last Updated:
Friday, March 30, 2007
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