Category Archives: Affordable Care Act

Gays being considered for ‘Obamacare’

The U.S. Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, atient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, Gay News, Washington Blade

The U.S. Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights is working on details of a plan to show how LGBT Americans will have equal access to benefits outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

HOBOKEN, N.J. — The U.S. Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights is working on details of a plan to show how LGBT Americans will have equal access to benefits outlined in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), the Credit Union Times and one of its sister sites Benefits Pro, reported last week.

The Act promises “health care regardless of race, color, national origin, disability, age or gender.”

Based on available numbers, the National Academy of Sciences, in a report released in 2011, agreed that gay and transgender people often face “barriers to equitable health care” and receive substandard care when they seek it.

One big variable already identified clearly: While many of those with HIV live in the nearly 30 states that have either already opted for Medicaid expansion under PPACA or are in the process of doing so, there are many more who live in states still sitting on the sidelines, Benefits Pro reported.

Other possible impediments to proper care are being explored, the article said.

A look ahead at an intriguing 2013

As we welcome the New Year we can be sure that there will be a Supreme Court decision on our right to marry. We know the justices agreed to hear two cases: one on DOMA Section 3 and the other on California’s Proposition 8. Everyone and their uncle will be dissecting these cases and trying to predict an outcome. Lawyers will be giving us every possible scenario on each of them until the day the decision is rendered, which will most likely be the last possible day in June.

As a layman I see the court upholding the right to marry in California and overturning Section 3 of DOMA, with both decisions based on states’ rights. This seems to be the simplest thing for them to do if they are not prepared to take the final step and decide that under the 14th Amendment, same-sex marriages are protected by the Constitution. Of course, hope springs eternal that they will agree to invalidate all those obscene state constitutional amendments claiming that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Setting aside the jokes made after Colorado and Washington State legalized marijuana and people said they now understood the Bible where it says, “if man lies down with man they must be stoned,” the reality is that these anti-marriage equality amendments were passed because people wouldn’t acknowledge the fact that marriage in the United States is a civil right, not a religious one. It is granted in a license by the state and the decision to follow that up with a religious ceremony is a personal one. I am not convinced the court is willing to tell all those people they are wrong just yet. That feeling is heightened when listening to Ruth Bader Ginsburg say she thinks the court may have ruled on Roe v. Wade before the country was ready for it. But then it is nearly impossible to predict what the court will do, as we saw in the decision on the Affordable Care Act.

Congress should be able to move on some social legislation in 2013 — possibly a fair and equitable immigration bill and maybe with Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) in the Senate even ENDA can move if we put enough pressure on the Congress. Surely in the first quarter of 2013 we can put enough pressure on the president to sign an executive order banning discrimination in federal contracting.

There will be more than enough happening in 2013 to keep us all talking and debating. Anyone in Dupont Circle should feel free to stop by the Java House coffee shop on 17th and ‘Q’ Street any morning to partake in a conversation/debate. Patrons there have fun anticipating the possible Hillary Clinton run in 2016 and analyze everything she does or says from a new haircut to talk of buying a new house to where she will accept speaking engagements to see how it might play into a candidacy. Speculation on what President Obama will do after his second term began even before the term has begun. Topics of conversation will surely include continued fascination with Michelle Obama’s wardrobe and guessing games over new Cabinet members, ambassadors and high-level appointments in the White House. Since your opinion is as valid as anyone else’s sitting at the table, feel free to join in the fun.

The more serious issues that will play out in 2013 include what happens in Afghanistan, Syria, Egypt, Iran, Israel and to the Palestinian people. How many more people will lose their lives as these fights continue? Most agree that 2013 will not see the end of the turmoil in any of those places but we can and must pray that our leaders will find equitable solutions that will allow people to live in peace.

As we rejoice at the swearing in of the new Congress, especially members like Sen. Baldwin, and bid adieu to others like Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) we must all remain vigilant and active if we are to advance the causes we believe in. As the president is sworn in to his second term we must continue to pressure him to stay strong in moving a progressive agenda forward as we stand strong at his side and pressure the members of Congress to do the same.

2013 could become one of the most exciting political years in a long time. We will surely be able to claim some victories if each and every one of us remains involved and continues to speak out for what we believe.

Md. advocates should now focus on health care

By LESLIE CALMAN & SUZANNE SCHLATTMAN

Two recent developments provide the opportunity for LGBT Marylanders to achieve equality.

The first is obvious: After a hard-fought battle and with the help of innumerable straight allies, marriage equality is now law of the land in Maryland. Although the federal Defense of Marriage Act continues to bar a number of benefits to married LGBT people, state-level benefits are now fully available.

This means that many more Marylanders will be able to qualify for health insurance coverage. What’s the connection? Many more people will be able to access health insurance through their spouses. And Maryland is ahead of the curve on implementing President Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The new insurance exchanges and reduced rates the ACA mandates are sure to expand coverage to more than 300,000 previously uninsured state residents — including many lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Marylanders.

To maximize the benefit of both of these major policy changes, it’s important for LGBT Marylanders to get informed and get engaged.

LGBT Marylanders are more likely than heterosexual people to be uninsured. LGBT people are more likely to be self-employed, to earn less or to work for employers who don’t offer health insurance. For an American woman, the best predictor of whether she has health insurance is if she is married — a status previously denied to LGBT women.

Marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act confront these inequities in many tangible ways that increase coverage, improve quality and help build a better system to ensure that all Marylanders can get the healthcare they need free from unnecessary administrative burden or prejudicial judgment.

First, for people with low incomes, the ACA makes health insurance available for free or at reduced rates. Individuals earning up to about $15,000 per year will be able to get free coverage through the expanded Medicaid program starting Jan. 1, 2014.

Other single Marylanders earning up to $44,680 can get tax credits to subsidize their coverage through our new Maryland Health Connection. Plans sold in the Connection will provide robust benefits at affordable rates by encouraging competition and making it easier for consumers to compare and shop for insurance.

Qualifying small businesses can also get tax credits of up to 35 percent of the business’ health care costs if they provide health insurance for their employees.

There are many other provisions in the law that can make it an even greater win for LGBT Marylanders. For example, the state will set a benchmark, or minimum standards of medical treatments to be guaranteed in the Maryland Health Connection. This is an opportunity to eliminate arbitrary exclusions based on sexual orientation and gender identity that currently create significant barriers to care, particularly for transgender people. There are a number of insurance plans that deny coverage for any services or medications related to sex transformation — and that can apply to denial of vital screenings, like mammograms or pap tests, for a person born female but has since become a transgender man.

The ACA also creates a unique opportunity to learn more about the different experiences of LGBT Marylanders in our healthcare system: how does the experience of being stigmatized affect health and access to health care? Are LGBT people less likely to get recommended cancer screenings? More likely to suffer stress? More likely to smoke?  Collecting data on sexual orientation and gender identity can be a way to better understand and address inequities and injustice in health and in our health care system that disproportionately affects LGBT patients.

Finally, the ACA also creates a Navigator program that can empower trusted service providers in the LGBT community to conduct education and enrollment work and ensure that state marketing efforts cater to LGBT people and direct them to brokers or community-based organizations that understand unique health care considerations in the community and help them find coverage that best suits their needs.

It is important for those advocates who were engaged in the successful campaign for marriage equality to now turn their attention and efforts to make sure that Maryland’s implementation of the Affordable Care Act goes as far as it possibly can to guarantee meaningful access to quality, affordable health care for LGBT Marylanders.

Leslie Calman is executive director of the Mautner Project. Suzanne Schlattman is community outreach and development director of the Maryland Health Care for All coalition.

2012 was a very good year

It was an interesting year in so many ways. Looking back made me realize the first thing I did was accept reaching the age when many people retire. I contemplated that for about 10 minutes before moving on to more relevant thoughts. After all, life was still fun, my job still interesting and writing was still something I enjoy.

Each month of the year brought with it some new events to focus on. Overriding everything was the election. In January, I wondered why we should care what the Iowa caucus results were — and I am still wondering. That was about the same time the pizza guy flamed out over his transgressions with a series of women. The ups and downs of the Republican debates were fascinating in a macabre way, like watching a train wreck is fascinating. Some of the candidates faded faster than others including Tim Pawlenty, Michele Bachmann (not fast enough), Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry. Others like Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum hung around longer and used the eventual nominee Mitt Romney as a piñata dragging him further to the right all to the eventual benefit of President Obama.

Then there was Foundry United Methodist Church’s fight for LGBT rights within the Methodist Church. While they lost that fight we can all be thankful for the ongoing work of Foundry and their Senior Pastor Dean Snyder. In May, Dr. Robert Spitzer, a leading member of the American Psychological Association, wrote an apology (better late than never) that admitted he was wrong when he authored a study supporting “reparative therapy” for gays. That study harmed unknown numbers of young gay men who were subjected to this phony therapy and still are in some areas.

June brought Pride with its festivals and parades and the knowledge that we now had a president who supported marriage equality and was willing to stand up and tell the world. There was also the decision by the Supreme Court to declare “Obamacare” constitutional. In his statements on the Affordable Care Act as well as other comments Justice Scalia again showed why he should be impeached.

July brought the International AIDS Conference to the United States for the first time in 20 years. There were meetings and talk about how far we have come in the fight against HIV/AIDS and recognition of how far we still had to go. There was the announcement of the first patient, called the “Berlin Patient” who has reportedly been cured and the discussion of spending more money on finding a cure and not just finding a vaccine. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton addressed the conference and to great applause spoke of a generation without AIDS being within reach.

In August we watched the spectacle of the Republican Convention in which they approved a platform clearly more appropriate for the 19th century than the 21st. They highlighted their fight against women and the LGBT community and selected the Romney/Ryan ticket, which proved a colossal mistake.

The election was going fine for the Democrats until the first presidential debate, when President Obama barely showed up. An election thought to be in the bag suddenly became a nail biter for a short while. But those of us who are Nate Silver fans soon understood that President Obama was going to win a second term and do so fairly easily. The bonus was winning marriage referenda in four states and gaining House seats and two Senate seats as well.

All in all, a good year yet it ended with so many things left to be done. Some are easy and can be done with the stroke of a pen like the president signing an executive order to ban discrimination in federal contracting. Others — like setting the nation on a course to fiscal solvency — will take negotiation and perseverance and require our help as we pressure Congress to act.

But at midnight on Dec. 31, as we say goodbye to 2012 and welcome in 2013, let us all drink a toast to the year past and say a prayer and pledge to each other that in the year to come we will keep up the good fight for equality and will do everything in our power to make the world a safer and healthier place for all.