Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

IPDH director talks HIV cuts, Affordable Care Act
Special to the online edition of Windy City Times by Matthew C. Clark
2012-10-02

This article shared 5245 times since Tue Oct 2, 2012
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Dr. Lamar Hasbrouck, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), spoke about recent HIV/AIDS funding cuts and upcoming changes to the healthcare system under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) at a breakfast discussion Sept. 27.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) hosted the event, which was held three days before the Chicago AIDS Walk & Run. AFC President/CEO David Ernesto Munar and Hasbrouck discussed his background, the overall state of public health in Illinois (its ranking was 28th last year by the United Health Foundation), HIV/AIDS care and prevention, funding cuts and the transitions undergoing public health in implementing the ACA.

In June, the state House voted to cut HIV funding by $3.3 million, or 42 percent of previous levels. In a press release, the AFC projected more than 100 new HIV infections due to the funding cut. When asked about them, Hasbrouck stressed resourcefulness and made no mention of funding being restored to original levels.

"Just to be very genuine to you … we're always going to be in a situation where we're strapped for resources," he said. "The resources, in terms of dollars, is not the answer."

Hasbrouck added that instead of relying heavily on a system of non-profit health networks, and public programs like the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, more people with HIV will be eligible for insurance under the ACA, and a statewide waiver may allow Medicaid to expand its coverage before the national law goes into effect in 2014. Hasbrouck said this is where his agency must act.

"What we have to do in terms of public health is to work with out sister agencies… to make sure that we don't lose anybody," he said.

This remains the critical question for public health advocates: If public funding continues to decrease while access to healthcare insurance increases, how will these changes effect those who are in need of healthcare?

Hasbrouck admitted that this legislation leads to both excitement and anxiousness.

"It's a moving ball. The federal guidance isn't crystal-clear," he said.

He stressed that organizations need to focus on doing fewer things well, and not overlapping services or resources with other organizations.

A study put out this year by the Morten Group assessing the needs of Chicago's LGBT community identified affordable health care and services or health insurance as the number one issue its respondents felt the government should address.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention also released a study in 2010 that showed that one in five men who has sex with men in 21 different cities, including Chicago, had HIV; moreover, half of those did not know they had it. According to the study, young Black men who have sex with men are disproportionately affected by the epidemic.

During the discussion, Hasbrouck also stated that there are specific communities with "explosive rates" of new HIV infection, and that's something the healthcare community needs to address.

He also stated he was in support of imposing statutory remedies on the provisions of the Communicable Prevention Act, which states principles and superintendents must be notified if an student tests HIV-positive.

According to the AFC, there are about 25,000 people in Chicago who are infected with HIV, and the number of people living with HIV in Chicago has increased every year.

Hasbrouck has previously worked as the director and chief of party for the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Guyana for the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, and most recently was the director for the Department of Public Health and the Department of Mental Health of Ulster County, NY.


This article shared 5245 times since Tue Oct 2, 2012
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Brown Elephant Returns To Northalsted
2024-03-26
Brown Elephant's Lake View location is moving to Northalsted and already accepting donations. Howard Brown Health, the largest LGBTQ+ health center in the midwest, operates three Brown Elephant resale shops in the Chicagoland area to help ...


Gay News

An interstate trans healthcare crisis: Illinois prepares for influx of people seeking gender-affirming care
2024-03-26
With hard-won rights, such as access to hormone replacement therapy or permission to use one's chosen pronouns in school, breaking down in states across the country, trans residents of all ages are left with a choice: ...


Gay News

Planned Parenthood of Illinois expands Orland Park health center
2024-03-26
--From a press release - ORLAND PARK, Ill. - Planned Parenthood of Illinois (PPIL) announces the expansion of its existing Orland Park Health Center at 14470 S. LaGrange Rd., Suite 106. The 1,800-square-foot expansion is projected to increase sexual and reproductive ...


Gay News

Wyoming is latest state to ban gender-affirming care for minors
2024-03-24
On March 22, Wyoming became the latest state to prohibit gender-affirming care for minors, The Hill noted. In doing so, it joined 23 other states that passed laws restricting or banning the treatment. Legislators in both ...


Gay News

Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council sets a new course
2024-03-18
Chicago's LGBTQ+ Advisory Council held its first meeting of the calendar year on Feb. 28 at City Hall in the Loop under the leadership of the recently appointed chair Jin-Soo Huh. The LGBTQ+ Advisory Council is ...


Gay News

WORLD Leaked messages, Panama action, author dies at 32, Japan court, out athletes
2024-03-15
Hundreds of messages from an internal chat board for an international group of transgender health professionals were leaked in a report and framed as revealing serious health risks associated with gender-affirming care, including cancer, according to ...


Gay News

UK health service to stop routinely prescribing puberty blockers to minors
2024-03-14
NHS (National Health Service) England confirmed that children will no longer routinely be prescribed puberty blockers at gender-identity clinics, the BBC reported. The decision came after a review found there was "not enough evidence" that they ...


Gay News

One Roof Chicago launches youth-focused workforce development program
2024-03-14
One Roof Chicago (ORC) is set to launch its first training, education and job placement program for LGBTQ+ young adults in late spring. This Community Health Workers and Elder Care program is a part of ORC's ...


Gay News

Howard Brown experts discuss advocacy and allyship for Chicago's trans community
2024-03-14
By Alec Karam - Howard Brown Health's Trans & Gender Diverse People's Rights & Patient Care panel convened March 12 to discuss both resources for—and opportunities to provide allyship to—the city's trans and gender diverse communities. The event hos ...


Gay News

Howard Brown Health faces October trial if settlement isn't reached with union
2024-03-13
Howard Brown Health could go to trial over unfair labor practice allegations if the LGBTQ+ health center doesn't reach a settlement with its agreement soon. Chicago's regional director of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed ...


Gay News

Longtime LGBTQ+-rights activist David Mixner dies at 77
2024-03-12
On March 11, longtime LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS activist David Mixner—known for working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign but then splitting from him over "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (DADT)—died at age 77, The Advocate reported. ...


Gay News

Pro-choice activists protest crisis pregnancy center on International Women's Day
2024-03-11
The rainy weather on March 8 didn't deter a passionate group of pro-choice protesters from gathering in Old Town on International Women's Day. Following the opening of Women's Care Center—a crisis pregnancy center—directly next to Pl ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Altercation, mpox research, Univ. of Fla., George Santos, tech battle
2024-03-08
Video footage uploaded to Facebook showed an altercation between a state trooper and two prominent Philadelphia LGBTQ+ leaders, the Washington Blade reported, republishing an article from Philadelphia Gay News. Celena ...


Gay News

Pride 365 event emphasizes year-round support for LGBTQ+ employees
2024-03-07
Queer employees are queer all year-round. The need for employers to accordingly support and uplift them year-round was the core message at Howard Brown Health and Citywide Pride's Pride 365 "Out of Office to Out in ...


Gay News

AMA launches toolkit to increase screenings for HIV, STIs, hepatitis, tuberculosis
2024-03-06
Press release - CHICAGO — With disruptions in clinical care caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing rates of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and viral hepatitis across the U.S., the American Medical Association ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.