The scene seems to play on repeat: Every morning, people open the newspaper and read disparaging articles about the rollout of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare. Maybe it’s not a newspaper—maybe it’s a website or a news broadcast or a radio station. It doesn’t matter, the story is the same.
Glitches and bumps and technical issues have indeed...
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CountyCare, an Illinois Medicaid waiver program for adult residents in Cook County, has been accepting applications since November 2012—a full year before the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). But now that the ACA is in full swing, what will happen to CountyCare? More specifically, what’s at stake for people with HIV/AIDS during this time?
To address these and...
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Chicago, brace yourself.
The Windy City is welcoming Larry Kramer’s Tony Award-winning play, The Normal Heart , to TimeLine Theatre Company, and the AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is selling tickets for Saturday, November 2 and Sunday, December 1 , which is World AIDS Day.
Proceeds benefit AFC—but only on these dates, and only if you reserve your seat through...
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In this episode of Unwrapping ObamaCare , cohosts Suraj Madoori and Lucy Baglin discuss the importance of waiting.
Since the first reported cases of HIV in the United States, AIDS activists have been asking for a more just health care system--one that doesn't discriminate against people based on pre-existing conditions. That system is finally...
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The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) is publishing this story in recognition of Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 6 – 12, 2013), an opportunity to deconstruct labels that stigmatize people with mental health diagnoses. Destigmatizing mental illness and promoting the benefits of life-giving treatments is part of AFC's comprehensive approach to ending HIV/AIDS.
Sharon admits...
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November 2012 marked Meaghan Divane’s 25th birthday, but she wasn’t in the mood to celebrate, having just ended a significant—but unhealthy—relationship a few weeks prior.
Still, she toed the starting line in the Hot Chocolate Chicago 5k race without too much expectation. And then she learned what she wanted to do—what she needed to do—for the next 365...
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Since the first official U.S. report of AIDS in 1981, the HIV community has worked to reform our health care system to increase access for those who need it. Today--after three decades of advocacy--it’s finally beginning.
Thanks to Obamacare, which begins enrollment today, people in Illinois and across the nation can see how much health plans will cost, explore coverage options,...
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Lucy Baglin and Suraj Madoori, cohosts of Unwrapping ObamaCare , received an email from a listener who saw gaps in local conversations about the coming changes to our health care system. Instead of responding to the listener by email, they invited him to their studio, so he could share his consumer-level perspective and offer insight to other people with HIV, who will be eligible...
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October 1, 2013—the date’s been circled on our calendars for months. We’ve talked about it in podcasts and spilled ink over it on our blog . October 1, 2013, is opening day for health insurance marketplaces, which are online destinations that will allow consumers to shop for and compare insurance under our reformed health care system.
Sounds great, right? Of course,...
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Starting October 1, online Marketplaces will open across the country to enroll people in ObamaCare, but there are still a lot questions left unanswered. For example, when will the sites go live, and how can people find assistance with enrollment?
Co-hosts Lucy Baglin and Suraj Madoori sit down with Ramon Gardenhire, Director of Government Relations at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago,...
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