Long Covid patients re-wrote hundreds of pages of the Ryan White Care Act for
#LongCovid, and not one of the MECFS Mafia / Long Covid Moonshot "advocates" or orgs supported it.
The RWHAP is extrodinarily comprehensive legislation. It's why tens of millions of ppl with HIV are alive today.
The pitiful Moonshot legislation (all 30 pages of it 🤡) has none of this - systems which have existed for decades. ie: departments, procedures, insurance coverage requirements, pharmacy and pharma regulations...mechanisms *already *in *place and operating for decades.
Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program Benefits & Services:
(a very brief summary, not all-encompassing list)
Primary Medical Care
• Outpatient and ambulatory health services • Oral health and dental care • Home health care services • Medical case management and care coordination
Patient Protections
• Cannot be denied services based on ability to pay • Confidentiality protections • Coordination required between all service providers
Drug Assistance Program
- Targeted medications and drugs for opportunistic infections • Pharmaceutical assistance • Medical nutrition therapy and supplements • Mental health and substance abuse treatment
Financial Assistance
• Health insurance premium and cost-sharing assistance • Sliding fee scales based on income:
Free care: income ≤100% federal poverty level
Capped at 5% annual income: 100-200% poverty level
Capped at 7% annual income: 200-300% poverty level
Capped at 10% annual income: >300% poverty level
Transportation & Access
• Medical transportation to appointments • Translation and interpretation services • Outreach to identify and engage people with HIV
Family & Social Support
• Respite care for caregivers • Housing referral assistance • Child welfare and family services • Emergency financial assistance
Women, Infants, Children & Youth
• Family-centered coordinated care • Prevention of mother-to-child transmission • Pediatric HIV specialty care • Youth engagement and retention programs
Minority Communities
• Culturally and linguistically appropriate services • Programs targeting health disparities • Community-based care in underserved areas
Geographic Coverage
• Part A: Metropolitan areas with high HIV prevalence • Part B: Statewide comprehensive care programs • Part C: Early intervention in underserved communities • Part D: Women, infants, children, and youth services
Quality Assurance
• Community planning councils ensure consumer input • Clinical quality management programs • Coordination with Medicare, Medicaid, and other programs • 75% minimum of grant funds must support core medical services
THE LONG COVID MOONSHOT · It's not enough
"...it also faces a mountain of justifiable criticism within the Covid community itself...
For starters, the bill only promises $1 billion a year for research.
That won't get you to the moon." ↓
okdoomer.io/the-long-covid-m…