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HIV Policy & Advocacy

HIV/AIDS Advocates Cautiously Applaud Supreme Court Upholding Affordable Care Act

On June 28, 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court by a 5-4 margin upheld the individual mandate provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), but declined to require states to expand their Medicaid programs. Advocates generally praised the ruling -- noting that people with HIV will benefit from the ACA's ban on insurance exclusion due to pre-existing conditions -- but said the law could actually make it more difficult for some low-income individuals to obtain care.

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Death Rates Decline in African Countries Receiving PEPFAR Funding

More than 740,000 deaths may have been prevented in African countries that received intensive aid through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, better known as PEPFAR, according to a new analysis of more than 1.5 million people published in the May 16, 2012, Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).alt

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ACT UP at 25

The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, better known as ACT UP, held its first major action -- a demonstration on Wall Street demanding access to experimental HIV drugs and an end to discrimination against people with AIDS -- on March 24, 1987. The group's eye-catching graphics and savvy use of the media received widespread attention, and soon ACT UP chapters were springing up across the U.S. and around the world.alt

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Institute of Medicine Releases Report on Monitoring HIV Care

In March the Institute of Medicine (IOM) issued a report commissioned by the Office of National AIDS Policy that recommends standardized indicators for monitoring use of clinical services by people with HIV/AIDS.alt

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HIV Physician Urge Supreme Court to Uphold Health Care Reform

On March 26 the Supreme Court began hearing arguments in a lawsuit challenging provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obama's controversial health insurance reform plan. The HIV Medicine Association and Lambda Legal urged the court to retain the individual mandate, arguing that health reform is essential for people with HIV/AIDS.alt

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