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News: Illinois

Illinois Lottery Launches Annual Red Ribbon Cash Instant Ticket

June 10, 2020

Proceeds Benefit Illinois Agencies Providing HIV/AIDS Prevention, Education, and Care Services FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 9, 2020 Media Contacts: Amelia Dellos, (312) 898-8792 CHICAGO – The Illinois Lottery is bringing back its annual Red Ribbon Cash instant ticket, which has raised more than $8.6 million for HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and treatment in Illinois since...
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End of Session Wrap-Up: 2020 State Legislative Session

June 4, 2020

Early on Sunday, May 24, the Illinois General Assembly concluded its 2020 Spring Legislative Session — a session unlike any other.   Beginning January 28, legislators in both chambers convened for 14 days before being indefinitely paused on March 16 due to the new coronavirus (COVID-19) Shelter-In-Place Executive Order (EO).  The state legislature convened a special...
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In a landmark veto, President Preckwinkle protects privacy of people diagnosed with COVID-19

May 26, 2020

AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) commends Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s decision this morning to protect the privacy of people who have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus (COVID-19). President Preckwinkle vetoed the SAFE with First Responders resolution, which if enacted, would have permitted the Cook County Department of Public Health (CCDPH) to share the addresses of...
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COVID-19 is ravaging Illinois’ Latinx community

May 7, 2020

Even before the new coronavirus (COVID-19) changed our way of life and the course of our future, AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) already knew that members of the Latino/Latina/Latinx community in the U.S. were not treated equitably when compared to their white counterparts in many facets of life. Decades of discrimination , state-sanctioned violence , targeted and cruel immigration policies ,...
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Governor JB Pritzker, Rep. Cabello, and the Need for Humanity

April 16, 2020

Photo by Tobias Rehbein By Aisha N. Davis, Esq. On Wednesday, April 15, Illinois State Representative John M. Cabello (Machesney Park) released the names of formerly incarcerated people whose sentences were commuted in the past month by Governor JB Pritzker. Rep. Cabello defended publicizing the names of these individuals by...
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COVID-19, Black America, and the Deadly Cycle of Racism

April 8, 2020

By Aisha N. Davis, Esq. In the past month, the COVID-19 pandemic has led us into a new reality that we have never experienced, both here in Chicago and across the United States. However, one emerging trend is not novel – Black people and communities across the nation are being disproportionately impacted by pandemic hot spots and COVID-19 related deaths. Systemic racism has...
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Censual Healing: Why LGBTQ+ folks need to get counted in 2020

April 1, 2020

It’s almost Census time, and while it might seem scary, the Census is important, safe, and easier to complete than you may think. by Anthony Ruth In 2010, Dan Savage started “It Gets Better,” Lady Gaga wore the meat dress, Oprah still had her daytime talk show, and everyone with a smartphone—which wasn’t yet everyone—was playing Angry Birds....
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AFC embraces Black AIDS Institute’s We the People Plan

March 8, 2020

On this year’s National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, Feb. 7, the Black AIDS Institute (BAI) released We the People — a sweeping, national, Black-led plan to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) enthusiastically endorses the Black AIDS Institute’s plan and commits to supporting BAI in implementing the plan through AFC’s statewide efforts...
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Public charge rule goes into effect, invites discriminatory restrictions on dreams of permanent residency

February 24, 2020

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is disheartened by today’s news regarding the Trump Administration’s dangerous public charge rule . The U.S. Supreme Court’s dissolution of the Illinois statewide injunction, which prevented the new public charge rule from going into effect, now invites discriminatory restrictions on immigrants’ pathway to a green card.  As...
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Heads up! New Illinois Medicaid Prescription Drug Policy Coming Jan. 1, 2020

December 18, 2019

Are you on Medicaid? Do you have patients, friends or clients who are on Medicaid? If the answer is “yes,” keep reading the important information below! On Jan. 1, 2020, prescription drug coverage is changing for Illinois Medicaid. Previously, Medicaid managed care plans covered whatever drugs they wanted. Starting in January, every plan in the state will have to cover the...
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