Health Care Access

Legislation calls on the government to collect and release demographic data on coronavirus

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-CA) and 18 co-sponsors introduced the Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure Act was introduced in the U.S. Senate on April 14, and Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) and three co-sponsors introduced the bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collect and publicly report coronavirus testing, treatment, and mortality data by race, ethnicity, sex, age, socioeconomic status and disability status (among other things).

This data can show us how bad this pandemic is, who is being underserved, and who should be centered in the response. Health care providers and public health officials need this information to prepare, coordinate, and prioritize resources for those most impacted. We need it to hold the government accountable for failing communities of color.

Early reporting from certain states shows that racial and ethnic disparities are stark. In Louisiana, for example, African Americans make up about 58% of the coronavirus-related deaths and only about 33% of the population. The highest death rates in both New York state and City are among Latinx people.

The national data released from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), however, has been grossly incomplete. Race and ethnicity data is missing for nearly two-thirds of CDC-reported cases, and there is no disaggregated mortality, testing, or treatment statistics.

Longstanding structural inequities rooted in social, political, and economic institutions in the U.S. have led to Black and non-Black people of color being more likely experience environmental pollution and chronic health conditions, both of which are associated with worse health outcomes from coronavirus. Black workers are more likely to be essential workers; less likely to be able to work from home; less likely to have a job that offers paid sick leave; and more likely to live in multigenerational homes.

Reliable, nationwide disaggregated data – with proper privacy protections – is an essential tool in crafting an informed policy response to inequities highlighted by this pandemic.


Stimulus package includes substantial funds for programs that support people living with HIV

The third coronavirus relief package passed by the U.S. Congress, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, includes at least $115 million in funding for HIV programs. The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program received an additional $90 million.

The funds will help recipients better respond to needs created by the pandemic while continuing to provide medical care, support services, and medications to uninsured or underinsured people living with HIV.

The CARES Act provides up to $65 million for the Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA) program to support access to safe, stable housing for people living with HIV. Additionally, the Act requires that Medicare Part D plans give beneficiaries a 90-day supply during the pandemic of prescription medication if they ask for it. This is big news for people living with HIV on Medicare, the majority of whom also receive low-income subsides under Part D.

Trump administration rejects special health care enrollment during pandemic

The coronavirus has further highlighted how important it is for everyone to have comprehensive health care coverage, regardless of gender identity, immigration status, race, or ability to pay. Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace – the time when people can get subsidized health care coverage – ended December 15, 2019. The Trump administration ignored calls to open a special enrollment period, essentially refusing uninsured people a chance to get health care coverage during the pandemic.

This decision will impact the 38 states that use the federal marketplace. Several states that have a state-run marketplace have re-opened their enrollment.


FDA loosens discriminatory blood donation restrictions, but more is needed

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changed its blood donation guidelines to requires three months of abstinence for men who have sex with men, sex workers, and people who inject drugs. Previously, sex workers and people who inject drugs were barred completely from donating blood, and men who have sex with men were required wait a year after their last sexual encounter to donate. The blood donation restrictions were and are stigmatizing, discriminatory and outdated. They were adopted as an emergency measure in the 1980s, before there was a reliable way to screen for HIV.

Sexual and Reproductive Health, Rights, and Justice

States try to use the coronavirus pandemic to restrict abortion access

Several states have used emergency coronavirus response orders as an excuse to restrict abortion access, using the deeply misogynistic argument that abortion is “non-essential.” Ohio, Iowa, Arkansas, and Alaska have barred surgical abortion but allow medication abortions – for some, because a court forced them. Other states, such as Mississippi, Indiana, Utah, and Kentucky, have considered issuing restrictions, but clinics remain open for now. Federal courts have stopped three states — Oklahoma, Alabama, and Tennessee — from banning abortion as a part of their emergency response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In Texas, the landscape changes daily. The state initially tried to ban all abortion – medication and surgical. On April 14, a federal appeal court temporarily allowed medication abortions to continue. One week later, the court ruled that Texas could, in fact, block them. Two days later, a new, less restrictive order went into effect. As of April 22, abortion providers say they can provide services under the new order while Texas Governor Abbott argues that it is a decision for the courts.

As Texas plays ping pong with the human right to abortion care, over 100 pregnant Texans have been forced to drive to other states – sometimes hundreds of miles – to access the care they need. PWN will continue to track this developing situation.

Economic Justice

Local and state governments try using hotels to shelter people who are unhoused

As coronavirus testing increases, confirmed cases of COVID-19 (the disease caused by coronavirus) have also increased in many homeless shelters. Some state and local governments have responded using hotel rooms to help address dangerous overcrowding in shelters. For example, California has committed to providing up to 15,000 hotel rooms for people experiencing homelessness; San Francisco announced plans to lease 7,000 hotel rooms; New York City said about 6,000 people will be moved into private hotel rooms; and Connecticut ordered shelters to rapidly move people who have tested positive for COVID-19 into hotels or permanent housing.

This is an important step, but more is needed, such as securing permanent housing for people who are unhoused. There are also human rights concerns. Those who are sheltered in hotels risk having their movement tightly restricted. As part of Alameda County’s “Operation Comfort,” for example, hotels reportedly restrict residents to three, pre-scheduled 20-minute breaks outside and do not give them room keys. Such restrictions can be uniquely burdensome on people who use substances or who have mental health conditions.


Ending Criminalization

States should not use criminalization to address a public health issue

As of April 20, 42 states, three counties, 10 cities, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico had some type of shelter in place orders. The goal of the orders is to slow the transmission of COVID-19 and prevent overloading the health care system. However, state and local governments are increasingly relying on surveillance, high fines, and criminalization to enforce the orders or to punish people for things like coughing or sneezing in public.

This is a dangerous and counterproductive approach. We cannot police our way to public health. Coming into contact with police and being held in detention increases the likelihood of coronavirus exposure.

Rather than arresting and jailing people, officials should continue efforts to release people from jails, prisons, and immigration detention centers in the U.S. Please read more in this organizational letter urging Congress to stop the criminalization of COVID-19.

Ending Violence against Women & People of Trans Experience

Two anti-trans bills signed into law in Idaho

Idaho Governor Brad Little signed two anti-trans bills into law on the eve of the International Transgender Day of Visibility. One of the bills, HB 509, bans someone from changing their gender identity marker on state-issued birth certificates. Forcing people to present identification (ID) documents that do not reflect their gender identity contravenes the purpose of ID documents – to accurately show who we are — and opens transgender people up to violence and discrimination.

The second, HB 500, prohibits transgender women and girls from playing school sports according to their gender identity. The law is a gross violation of the right to privacy, singling out transgender athletes for DNA analysis, hormone level monitoring, or even inspection of their “internal and external reproductive anatomy.” Both laws are being challenged in court.

Election Updates

Wisconsin proceeds with in-person primary election in the midst of coronavirus pandemic

Wisconsin was the first state to hold an in-person primary election during the coronavirus pandemic. The election chaos was determined by two last-minute decisions: First, Governor Tony Evers’ attempt to postpone the election through executive order was quashed by the state Supreme Court. Next, the U.S. Supreme Court held 5-4 that the state could not extend the absentee ballot deadline by a week to allow more people time to vote by mail.

Voters were forced to choose between protecting their health and exercising their right to vote. Because of a vast increase in absentee ballot requests, many people received their ballots after the postmark deadline and so won’t be counted. Polling stations were closed or plagued by long lines. In Milwaukee, for example, polling places decreased from 180 to just five. It is Wisconsin’s largest city and has nearly 70% of the state’s African American residents. Tens of thousands were effectively disenfranchised. Find our more about COVID-19 related voting policy changes in your state here.


Florida legislation cannot undermine the voting rights established in Amendment 4, for now

In 2018, Floridians approved a ballot initiative restoring voting rights to people who have completed all terms of their sentences for most felony offenses (otherwise known as  Amendment 4). Florida Governor Ron DeSantis then signed a bill into law to effectively gut the Amendment by requiring people to repay all fines and fees before registering to vote.

In February, a federal appeals court ruled that the state could not restrict the right to vote based on inability to pay while the issue goes through the courts. This month the appeals court refused to reconsider that decision.

Other Updates