Medicare Changes Impact PWAs 365Gay.com reports that 'AIDS activists are warning that changes to the Medicare program ... will put tens of thousands of people living with AIDS in dire circumstances. The law provides prescription drug coverage to Medicare recipients through private insurance policies. But as the president was touting the bill as the dawning of a new age where seniors will finally get prescription drug coverage, AIDS activists were warning about a provision to prohibit wrap-around prescription drug coverage to Medicaid and Medicare so-called 'dual-eligibles''
Nadler, Crowley Applaud $6 Million Increase for Housing for Persons with AIDS
Congressmen Jerrold Nadler, D-NY, and Joseph Crowley, D-NY, are pleased to announce that the House of Representatives has approved a $6 million increase in funding for Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) in the omnibus spending bill for Fiscal Year 2004.
The increase was welcome news to Nadler, Crowley and a bipartisan group of members of the House, who fought to increase funding for HOPWA. Earlier this year, 77 members of Congress, including Crowley, signed on to Nadler's request for additional funding.
Nadler said, 'While HOPWA deserves much more funding than the $6 million increase provided by the Congress, any increase is good news. When I meet with members of the AIDS community, there is one need that is stressed above all others, and that is housing. Finding affordable housing can be extremely difficult as it is. Throw in the added complications of living with AIDS — paying for expensive medication, the difficulty in holding a steady job, and even facing discrimination—and it's nearly impossible. That's why HOPWA fills such a critical void.'
HOPWA, a locally controlled program that helps communities address local housing needs for persons living with AIDS, served over 60,000 people in 74 cities in 2002. The program provides communities with the flexibility to address local housing needs and supplies a low-cost alternative to acute-care hospital beds, typically paid for with Medicaid dollars, which are often the only available shelter for people living with AIDS.
AIDS Grants Wanted
The AIDS Foundation of Chicago invites non-profit organizations in the Chicago metropolitan area to submit funding proposals for HIV-related programs and services.
Agencies interested in applying should download the Request for Proposals available on AFC's website, www.aidschicago.org, or contact Cheryl Beck at e-mail cbeck@aidschicago.org for a copy. Proposals are due no later than March 5, 2004.
The mission of AFC's grantmaking program is to support programs designed to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS and/or to care for those living with and affected by the epidemic. Within this broad mission, AFC funds organizations that conduct HIV education, prevention, and/or risk-reduction programs; provide direct care services for people affected by HIV; and advocate on behalf of people affected by HIV. Funding priority is given to community-based organizations and those organizations serving populations disproportionately affected by HIV, especially communities of color.
Since 1988, AFC has provided nearly $13 million to agencies across the city for projects serving thousands of men, women, and children with and at risk for HIV disease. Nearly half of all funds have supported organizations serving and governed by people of color.
Mt. Sinai Awarded $1.2 Million for West Side HIV/AIDS Initiative
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded Mount Sinai Hospital a $1.2 million federal grant to reduce transmission of HIV in Chicago's West Side neighborhoods.
The grant will fund an HIV prevention program aimed at educating people infected with HIV about lifestyle practices that prevent the spread of the virus. Participants will complete computer-assisted learning exercises and will be paired with HIV-positive peer advocates, who will offer encouragement and guidance about avoiding risky behaviors.
This is reportedly the first time such an approach to HIV prevention will be taken in Chicago and is unique among prevention programs across the nation in urban settings like Chicago's West Side.
'This program represents a shift in the direction of HIV prevention efforts,' says Dr. Nancy Glick of the Infectious Disease Division of Mount Sinai Hospital. 'Traditionally these outreach efforts have been broadly aimed at educating people not infected by HIV about avoiding risky behaviors. This takes a more focused approach because it involves people at greatest risk for spreading the disease.'
The grant is funded under the Ryan White CARE Act's Special Projects of National Significance Program (SPNSP), which supports the development of innovative HIV/AIDS service delivery models that have the potential for replication in other areas, locally and nationally. HHS awarded 15 SPNSP four-year grants totaling $18 million. Mount Sinai was the only Illinois health organization to receive such a grant.
The proportion of the city's AIDS cases on the West Side has increased from 16 percent in 1992-1993 to 23 percent in 1999-2001, according to the Chicago Department of Public Health. Out of all new AIDS cases in West Side communities, 30 percent are female, 87 percent are African-American and 9 percent are Latino.
Mount Sinai's Nancy Glick, MD, served as principal investigator for the grant and will lead the project. This is the third major grant in three years that Mount Sinai has been awarded to fight HIV/AIDS.
