• The Department of Health and Human Services issued interim guidance for people living with HIV. There are also coronavirus-related resources specific to people living with HIV or other chronic conditions from PWN, NASTAD, and Fenway Health.

Federal Court strikes down Medicaid work requirements in Michigan

A U.S. district court blocked Michigan’s Medicaid work requirements, potentially protecting access to health care for more than 100,000 people in the state. Work requirements went into effect on January 1 and required most adults who are not disabled to show that they worked at least 20 hours per week or 80 hours per month. Some other activities, such as school or training for work, would count as well.

Courts have blocked Medicaid work requirements from going into effect in four states for a simple reason: Work requirements are at odds with the central purpose of Medicaid. The Medicaid program was created to ensure that people who otherwise couldn’t afford health care coverage have it. Medicaid work requirements, on the other hand, take coverage away from those who need it – including those who are working. They do not increase employment or reduce poverty and cost the state millions of dollars to implement.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case challenging the Affordable Care Act

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a major challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) – a law that increased insurance coverage and health care quality for people living with HIV. The ongoing challenge revolves around the individual mandate, which requires most people have health insurance or pay a penalty. Congress zeroed out the individual mandate, effective in 2019, and a group of 20 states are arguing that the ACA is unconstitutional without it. A federal district court ruled the ACA unconstitutional in its entirety, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed in part.

If the ACA is struck down, 19.9 million people would lose health coverage and 135.4 million could face higher premiums or be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. The Supreme Court plans to hear the case in the fall. Read our op-ed on what people living with HIV stand to lose in that case here.

Economic Justice

Pressure grows for more robust paid leave amid the coronavirus pandemic

There is a growing demand for a national paid leave policy to protect the health and safety of people in the U.S. during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond. Currently, nearly a quarter of workers in the U.S. do not have paid sick leave, which forces them to make an impossible decision between protecting their livelihood or their and their loved ones’ health.

The Families First Coronavirus Emergency Response Act (mentioned above) includes emergency paid leave for some workers, but it is deeply inadequate. The law ensures two weeks of emergency paid sick leave for workers in quarantine because of coronavirus. It also includes emergency family and medical leave for up to 12 weeks, with job protections, for those who cannot work because of school or child care closures.

These are steps in the right direction; however, the law also has gaping holes that too many employees will fall through. It exempts big employers (over 500 employees) and creates exemptions for small employers (under 50 employees) and health care providers. It applies to those who cannot work because of childcare issues, but leaves out those who need to care for family or friends. It also is not a permanent fix. The law will end on December 2020 unless Congress votes to extend it. There is a bill, the PAID Leave Act, that would fill in some of those gaps and create a permanent change.

The 2020 census is live and it matters to people living with HIV!

Census Day is April 1st and it is time to celebrate. This is a once-in-a-decade event. Households across the U.S. have already received notices to complete it online, by phone, or by mail. If you haven’t received a notice yet, you can still make your presence known by going to www.my2020census.gov.

The census matters to people living with HIV. It is the official count of the U.S. population and determines how political representation and federal funding will be apportioned for the next ten years. It will be used to determine how many seats your state will get in the House of Representative. That’s political power! It will be used to redraw congressional, state and local districts. That’s voting power! It will also be used to distribute more than $675 billion in federal funding to state and local government for key programs that support people living with HIV such as Medicaid, nutrition assistance, and the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program. That’s our human rights to health care, food and housing!

Federal Court stops Trump administration from cutting food assistance for nearly 700,000 people

A federal court issued an order to block a Trump administration rule that would have forced nearly 700,000 people in the U.S. off of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs (SNAP). Right now, the SNAP program has a draconian work requirement: adults without a disability or children can only receive three months of food assistance every three years unless they show that they work at least 20 hours per week. States can waive the SNAP work requirements in areas with high unemployment for good reason: No one should starve because they cannot find long term employment. The rule would have made it much more difficult for states to waive the SNAP work requirement and would have kicked nearly 700,000 people off the program. The rule would have gone into effect April 1, but will now be on hold as the case proceeds through the courts.

Ending Criminalization

The state of Washington modernizes its HIV criminalization law

Both chambers of the Washington state legislature passed a bill, HB 1551, that will radically change the state’s outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization law. The bill achieves some major goals. First, it reduces the penalty under the state’s HIV-specific criminal law from a felony to a misdemeanor and creates a defense against prosecution if there was no transmission of HIV or if the person charged took, or attempted to take, “practical means to prevent transmission.” It does, however, leave in place an HIV-specific felony if a person living with HIV transmits the virus to a “child or vulnerable adult.”

Second, the bill updates language and policies to better reflect current science on HIV. Third, it gives young people more control over their sexual rights and health by enabling those 14 years old and up to access pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) without parental consent.

The bill now goes to Governor Jay Inslee, who is expected to sign it into law.

The REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act introduced in the House of Representatives

The House co-chairs of the Congressional HIV/AIDS Caucus re-introduced the Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal (REPEAL) HIV Discrimination Act, H.R. 6054, on March 2. The REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act would require the federal government to work with stakeholders – such as public health officials, people living with HIV, and community groups – to review all state and federal laws related to the criminalization or civil commitment of people living with HIV. The government would have to develop a public health-oriented, evidence-based report that includes the impact of punitive HIV-specific laws on people living with HIV and public health, the status of protections against police using condoms as evidence of sex work, recommendations to state government, and more. The federal government would also set and monitor performance goals as states work to implement the federal recommendations.

The REPEAL HIV Discrimination Act currently has 30 co-sponsors in the House. You can act now by asking your House Representative to co-sponsor the bill.

New factsheet explains how the public charge rule impacts HIV and hepatitis C programs

NASTAD, a nonprofit association of public health officials who administer HIV and hepatitis C (HCV) programs, released a useful factsheet titled Public Charge Rule: Considerations for HIV and Hepatitis Programs. The factsheet provides information for people who work at or who access HIV and HCV programs about the Trump administration’s racist and classist public charge rule.

The “public charge” test applies to people applying to enter the U.S. or for lawful permanent resident status (otherwise known as a green card). If you are unsure if the rule applies to you, try to talk with an immigration attorney. Protect Immigrant Families also has an excellent Know Your Rights page that you can consult.

Ending Violence Against Women & People of Trans Experience

Department of Justice establishes a unit to denaturalize certain citizens

This month, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had created a unit dedicated to stripping naturalized immigrants of their citizenship. The DOJ claims that the unit will target “terrorists, war criminals, sex offenders, and other fraudsters.” However, immigration attorneys – even those within the DOJ – have expressed concerns that the unit could be used to broadly strip people of their citizenship. The catch-all for “other fraudsters” can be applied extremely broadly.

What’s more, some states require or allow courts to force people convicted under HIV or sex work criminalization statutes to register as sex offenders, putting naturalized immigrants living with HIV or in the sex trade at risk of denaturalization.

This unit is an extension of the Trump administration’s violent anti-immigrant agenda. Its very existence implies that naturalized citizens have fewer constitutional and human rights than people who received citizenship at birth.

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