Get Social with NCAAN & NCRHC

Who: Everyone who cares about HIV/AIDS & enjoys getting to know other people who share their commitments.

What: North Carolina AIDS Action Network (NCAAN) / NC Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC) social mixer.

When: Wednesday, September 7th, 6:30-8:30pmWhere: The Station/Southern Rail, 201-C East Main Street, Carrboro, NC 27510.

Why: Lots of reasons...

* We'll be celebrating NCHRC's work to bring the conference "Reducing Harm & Building Communities: Addressing Drug Use in the South" to the Research Triangle;

* We'll be bringing people together to forge community ties among people who care about HIV/AIDS, and to provide people from each organization an opportunity to meet one another; and,

* We'll be working together to raise awareness about the need for sensible harm reduction policies to prevent the spread of HIV & hepatitis.

How: Just gather up your friends and join us at the Station/Southern Rail on Wednesday night! Suggested donation of $10; all proceeds go to benefit NCAAN & NCHRC.

Look forward to seeing you there!

ADAP Watch

As of August 25, 2011 there are:

• 5,779 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,302 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 477 are enrolled in SPAP
• 333 individuals on the waiting list

As of August 18, 2011 there were:

• 5,756 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,279 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 477 are enrolled in SPAP
• 328 individuals on the waiting list

According to NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch, released on August 19, there are 12 states with waiting lists, totaling 9,201 people. That report shows NC as having 327 clients on the waiting list, which was our official count at COB on August 17, 2011. NASTAD’s ADAP Watch can be found here.

NCAAN Announces Funding Opportunity to Encourage Local HIV Advocacy

The North Carolina AIDS Action Network is pleased to announce a funding opportunity for 501(c)(3) organizations doing significant HIV-related work in North Carolina.

Four grants of $2500 each are intended specifically to encourage regional community organizing and HIV advocacy capacity-building projects. We are grateful to AIDS United for supporting this initiative.

For fuller details, including instructions on how to apply, please read our RFP.

We look forward to reviewing your proposals!

Hurricane Preparedness Update for ADAP & SPAP

As a public service, we are passing along Hurricane Preparedness information issued today by the NC Department of Health & Human Services for NC ADAP & SPAP patients:

In preparation for this weekends expected severe weather, Walgreens has processed shipments early. By tomorrow they will have sent out any confirmed shipments that are due by September 1, including bulk delivery sites. In the event of an emergency, the best way to reach Walgreens is by calling the call center. Providers and case managers should call 1-888-516-8003. Clients should call 1-800-573-3602. Calls to the call center will be answered by operators in other parts of the country if the Orlando location loses power. The call center can assist if a client runs out of medication, needs to refill early or needs new medication delivered to an alternate address. In the event of a power or phone outage, as a last resort, clients can go to any Walgreens store in North Carolina (or bordering Walgreens Districts in VA and SC) and identify themselves as an NC ADAP or NC SPAP patient and the staff will do their best to assist them.

Why Intern with NCAAN?

We consider ourselves incredibly fortunate to have had amazing interns at NCAAN this past spring and summer. As a small organization, we truly depend upon the talent and energy that motivated interns bring to our work. We literally could not accomplish our goals without them.

So it's no wonder that we're putting out the call for new interns, with five exciting new openings:

* Communication Intern

* Community Organizing Intern

* Development Intern

* Public Policy Intern

* Special Events Intern

To learn more & apply, check out our official posting on Idealist.

And please, help us spread the word about why anyone with a passion for fighting for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS and the ability to make a serious commitment to us for the next three months should apply.

Here are three things that really stand out about NCAAN as an internship host:

1) NCAAN interns get to work directly with the Executive Director, Board members, and coalition partners. That means that our interns get the benefit of working alongside professionals who can mentor them. And it means that when our student interns look for post-graduate employment, we can speak firsthand about the great work they've done with us.

2) NCAAN interns get to be treated like essential members of the team. That's the feedback we've gotten from past interns who've told us how much they appreciated being treated like a true colleague. And it's no wonder--because our interns really are essential to our work.

3) NCAAN interns get to show off their talents and develop the skills required for their future career paths. Simply put, we need more talented and ambitious people working together to reach our goals--so when we find people with talent and ambition, we put those traits to good use. And in this job market, the most competitive job applicants are the ones who can demonstrate that they've already developed and used specific skill sets to help an organization reach its goals.

We want our interns to have a great experience that's a true win-win.

It all starts by putting the word out... so please help us spread the word!

ADAP Watch

As of August 11, 2011 there are:

• 5,756 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)

• 5,279 are enrolled in ADAP
• 477 are enrolled in SPAP

• 328 individuals on the waiting list

As of August 11, 2011 there were:

• 5,727 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)

• 5,251 are enrolled in ADAP
• 476 are enrolled in SPAP
• 322 individuals on the waiting list

According to NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch, there are 12 states with waiting lists, totaling 9,217 people. That report shows NC as having 318 clients on the waiting list, which was our official count at COB on August 10, 2011. NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch can be found here.

AIDS United Publishes State Profile on NC HIV/AIDS Info

Looking for information about HIV/AIDS in North Carolina?

AIDS United has just published new state profiles on HIV/AIDS across the United States.

Check out their detailed profile for North Carolina. Post your feedback & we'll pass it along!

Hats Off to ALFA!

If you read the news regularly, you know that HIV doesn't make many headlines these days. Media silence about HIV can be hard to break--and those silences perpetuate ignorance and HIV-related stigma.

So we wanted to give special recognition to our friends at ALFA in Hickory, who recently broke that silence in an unexpected place: Wilkes County.

This story in the Wilkes Journal-Patriot packed a lot of punch:

* It dispelled the myth that HIV is an exclusively urban problem; in fact, 1 in 4 HIV cases in NC are first diagnosed in rural areas;

* It drew attention to the availability of care services outside of urban centers; and,

* It publicized opportunities for community institutions to partner with ALFA in providing testing services in "non-traditional" sites, from college campuses to clubs to churches.

So: Hats off to our friends at ALFA for the great coverage--we love to see it!

ADAP Watch

As of August 11, 2011 there are:

• 5,727 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,251 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 476 are enrolled in SPAP
• 322 individuals on the waiting list

As of August 4, 2011 there were:

• 5,685 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,211 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 474 are enrolled in SPAP
• 316 individuals on the waiting list

According to NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch, there are 13 states with waiting lists, totaling 9,039 people. That report shows NC as having 316 clients on the waiting list, which was our official count at COB on August 4, 2011. NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch can be found here.

"A Ludicrous Delay"

Few people speak as intelligently and pointedly about NC policy issues as Chris Fitzsimon at NC Policy Watch.

So we're going to let him speak for himself about the latest atrocities in the unfolding Medicaid story. Excerpts quoted below; you can read the full story at the Fitzsimon Files:

Lawmakers slashed $356 million from the Medicaid budget in the current fiscal year, and another 407 million next year. State Medicaid dollars are matched two to one by the federal government so the cuts take a total of more than $2 billion dollars out of the program.

That funding not only supports tens of thousands of jobs in the health care industry, it pays for services to children, seniors, pregnant women, people with a disability, people living with HIV/AIDS, and other vulnerable populations.

Republicans didn’t slash many specific Medicaid programs and services. They were too politically smart to do that. Instead they ordered the Department of Health and Human Services to come up with the savings—even if that means slashing vital services.....

State officials say almost everything is on the table, like no longer providing prosthetics to people who lose an arm or leg, ending dental services for seniors, even stopping prescription drug coverage.

The more you hear, the worse it sounds. Doctors could only prescribe life-saving medication for people living with HIV/AIDS after prior authorization, a ludicrous delay since the patient literally needs the drugs to survive.

As the North Carolina AIDS Action Network points out, a recent multinational study led by researchers at UNC found that early drug treatment for HIV/AIDS patients reduces transmission rates as much as 96 percent.

Nobody should need some additional authorization to prevent more people from being infected with HIV or to help people stay alive who are living with the disease.

And state officials shouldn’t have to make it harder for people with Multiple Sclerosis to see a doctor or even remotely consider denying an artificial limb to a woman who loses an arm or leg.

They shouldn’t have to, but they do because of the draconian and heartless budget the Republicans approved.

They ought to be ashamed.

Let's Get Visual

Recently, we sat down with Durham-based documentary artist Lisa Marie Albert to talk about ways to harness the creativity of the HIV/AIDS community and the expressive power of the visual arts to advance our goals.

So it was only natural that we'd turn to her for suggestions on how to create Visual Media Tool Kits that will provide people with new ways to express their compassion, their concern, and their commitment to fighting for the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, their loved ones, and people at risk of acquiring HIV/AIDS in North Carolina.

And that's where you come in. We're asking everyone to collect materials to donate to NCAAN for our Visual Media Tool Kits project. Here are some of Lisa Marie's suggestions of the types of things we can use:

- poster board and canvasses

- old magazines to cut from (words, letters, pictures)

- scissors

- lots of new markers, lots of colors

- crayons

- paint (acrylic or poster paint)

- paintbrushes

- pencils

- glue (wet for glitter, and glue sticks for magazines)

- glitter or glitter paint

- other arts & crafts stuff

- colored tissue paper

- construction/art/scrap booking paper

- stencils for words/lettering

- modge podge (dries very clear, so good for use over magazine/tissue)

- condoms (for gluing to posters as part of the art)

- dental dams (if you can get some)

- beads (could glue them on for more decoration)

- double-sided tape

- other stuff, too!!!

Have stuff to donate? Drop an email to Lisa at lisa@ncaan.org & we'll figure out the best way to connect based on your location!

Cost-Cutting Measures May Cause Treatment Delays for PLWHA

According to a story from the News & Observer, a Medicaid panel is hearing options for extra budget cuts. These cuts may include a requirement for prior authorization for doctors to prescribe HIV/AIDS medication.

Over the summer, NCAAN worked hard advocating in the state legislature to make sure there was no requirement for prior authorization for people living with HIV/AIDS, and we succeeded.

However, the state budget requires more than $350 million in cuts. Further, because the federal government gives $2 to the state Medicaid program for every $1 made by the state, this means the actual cuts to the North Carolina state Medicaid program will total more than $1 billion. A Medicaid panel outlined where these cost-cutting measures would come from included a variety of things, including a requirement for prior authorization for HIV/AIDS medications.

Prior Authorization impedes access by requiring doctors to get authorization from Medicaid before prescribing these life-saving drugs. Studies show that prior authorization requirements significantly delay access to these life-saving medications. Any delay in treatment caused by these requirements threatens the lives and health of people living with HIV/AIDS. Treatment interruptions can also create drug-resistant strains of HIV. Also, A new UNC-led multinational study shows early treatment with HIV/AIDS medications may reduce transmission rates by up to 96%.

We need you to stand with NCAAN in opposing any prior authorization requirement for HIV/AIDS medications, and the threat it poses to people living with HIV/AIDS.

ADAP Watch

As of August 4, 2011 there are:

• 5,685 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,211 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 474 are enrolled in SPAP
• 316 individuals on the waiting list

As of July 28, 2011 there were:

• 5,633 individuals enrolled in HIV/AIDS drug assistance programs (ADAP & SPAP)
  • 5,163 are enrolled in ADAP
  • 470 are enrolled in SPAP
• 313 individuals on the waiting list

According to NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch, there are 13 states with waiting lists, totaling 8,871 people. That report shows NC as having 313 clients on the waiting list, which was our official count at COB on July 27, 2011. NASTAD’s most recent ADAP Watch can be found here.

Medicaid Matters

This spring, NCAAN worked with coalition partners to make sure that the state budget retained key provisions that enable Medicaid-qualified people living with HIV/AIDS to receive their prescribed medications without bureaucratic delays.

That was a huge victory.

Yet as this article in today's News and Observer reports, the cuts to Medicaid are far from over--and a lot is at stake for the HIV community.

That's because people living with HIV/AIDS who qualify for Medicaid depend on the program for a fuller range of medical services, including doctor's visits, hospital visits, dental care, and eye care.

Cuts to reimbursements rates make health care providers less willing to see Medicaid patients, worsening shortages of doctors who treat people living with HIV/AIDS. So would elimination of "optional" services like dental care, in a state where we already lack enough dental providers for people living with HIV/AIDS.

NCAAN will continue working with other health care advocates to limit the damage caused by the recent state budget cuts--and you can help.

Do you have a story about how Medicaid has helped you or someone you know? Share it with us here, or send it to us privately at stories@ncaan.org -- your personal experiences will help us to illustrate the tangible benefits of Medicaid and the real-world consequences of any cuts to this vital health care program.