Advocate to Governor McCrory: Do the right thing!

If Governor McCrory and the North Carolina General Assembly had expanded Medicaid, Glen Cameron - and hundreds of thousands of his fellow North Carolinians - would have health insurance today. But that didn't happen. 

Our elected officials' decision not to expand Medicaid costs more than 1,000 lives in our state each year. It denies a healthy future to thousands of North Carolinians living with HIV and countless others living with the pain and uncertainty of untreated illness.

Glen, a North Carolina AIDS Action Network Speaking Postively Advocate, told his story at Moral Monday in Raleigh on June 2, 2014. Here's what he had to say:

Hello everyone, my name is Glen Cameron and I live in Newton.

I have been HIV Positive for 27 years now, and I am here speaking to you today to put a face on Governor McCrory's refusal to expand Medicaid. I can no longer remain silent.

Since I lost my health insurance three years ago, my simple life has become a complicated maze of asking for charity care and going without care in some situations.

Not having a doctor is scary enough when you have HIV, and just this week I have learned that I have a growth on one of my kidneys that very well may be cancer.

If our Governor and General Assembly had not refused Medicaid expansion I would have insurance today.

So now I stand here to call on the governor of our beloved state to put politics aside and help the people of North Carolina. I ask you, Mr. Governor, and members of the General Assembly, why have you refused Federal funds offered to help our citizens?

 Is it politics?
 Is it spite?
 Is it a lack of basic human compassion?
 What is it?

Please tell us why people of our state, in the richest country on the planet, are denied the health care, the basic dignity, of citizens of any place else in the industrialized world...

Playing politics as usual is playing fast and loose with people's lives. I say Mr. Governor, General Assembly, help your citizens.

Do the right thing!
Do the just thing!
DO THE MORAL THING!

EXPAND MEDICAID NOW!

Thank you.

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.