Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker gave his first budget address on Wednesday, Feb. 20, which included level funding for HIV services in fiscal year 2020 (FY2020). Pritzker stated that his proposed budget is more austere than he would like, but it is the first step in a four-year plan to put Illinois back on the path of prosperity and growth for its people, communities, businesses and economy. The governor...
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On Friday, Feb. 1, Governor JB Pritzker expressed his administration’s commitment to ending the HIV epidemic by signing Executive Order 2019-08 in Rockford. We share our deepest gratitude for Gov. JB Pritzker's commitment to signing an Executive Order to strengthen investment in HIV services and programs , and to use viral load metrics to ensure Illinoisians living with...
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2018 was another year full of policy and legislative ups and downs on all levels. However, AFC and like-minded advocates across the country stayed strong when faced with sometimes harsh and inhumane policies that threatened the livelihoods of our communities. Here are a few of the most influential policy and legislative highlights of the year.
Illinois Medicaid hepatitis C...
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By Kirstin Brockenborough
Enrollment in the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace will be open for a few more days, and the excitement for another year of the Affordable Care Act (the ACA, a.k.a. Obamacare) is still in the air. (It could also be climate change, but who knows!)
The ACA created a way to expand Medicaid and create more opportunities for people to enroll in...
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Legal Council for Health Justice and AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) laud the Illinois Department of Health and Family Services (HFS) announcement today ending the department’s policy of rationing coverage of life-saving drugs to cure hepatitis C (HCV) for Medicaid participants.
As the deadliest infectious disease in the U.S., HCV affects an estimated 3.5 million Americans. ...
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To co-opt the words of old Kanye, “Donald Trump doesn’t care about transgender people.” This president of the United States has put a target on the backs of our trans-kin, and we cannot be silent about it.
According to the New York Times, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) “is considering narrowly defining gender as a biological, immutable...
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MADRID - A group of advocates and public health professionals challenged the all funders of HIV prevention research in attendance at a global conference on research for HIV prevention (HIVR4P) to explicitly offer support for short-acting, user-controlled methods for HIV prevention via its soon-to-be-funded HIV prevention trial network.
Holding signs that said, “Whose...
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The National Female Condom Coalition gratefully welcomes news today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration moved forward with recommended changes to regulations for the female condom, a sexual health device that protects against STIs including HIV. The FDA’s Sept. 27 release in the Federal Register (Volume 83, Number 188) announces three significant changes to how these devices...
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The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) strongly denounces the Trump administration’s latest attempt to destroy the lives and health of immigrants to the U.S. The administration recently announced an intent to expand the list of criteria that will render someone unable to apply for a green card or change their immigration status. Under the proposed rules, people who do not have...
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The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is gravely disheartened to learn about the Trump Administration’s plans to redirect $266 million earmarked for social services pay for the detention of children separated from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border. The funding includes $9.5 million for HIV programs.
While the Trump administration has the authority to transfer funds among programs,...
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