How the Supreme Court’s Obamacare Ruling Fails Poor Black Women With HIV

[La Lioness Priyanka]

State discretion on Medicaid expansion is particularly troublesome for black women living with HIV, says C. Virginia Fields, CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. “In six of the 26 states that brought the Supreme Court challenge, we have large pockets of Black women living in poverty and with AIDS: Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. We had hoped that the Medicaid expansion would allow uninsured women diagnosed with HIV to qualify for Medicaid sooner so that they would be able to receive [free or affordable] treatment before the onset of AIDS. Under the Supreme Court ruling, I doubt if there’s going to be any relaxing of those standards.”

http://colorlines.com/archives/2012/07/how_obamacare_may_fail_poor_black_women_living_with_hiv.html

These state decisions on healthcare is going to end up being problematic.

[truedelphi]

1. It fails almost anyone who is not making above $ 60,000

A year, or who is not employed by a large corporation with excellent health plans.

Why do I say this? because to get on Medicaid, even in places like California, you must apply through Health and Human Services. Now if you are absolutely indigent, I mean, you haven't had so much as a nickel or dime in six months, you probably are okay.

But if you are a working poor person, especially someone who does odd jobs, you have to sort through your financial situation and submit it to the authorities. Heaven help you if you should forget a check you may have received, or even a check you may not have have received, but that has been cashed. You can end up being threatened with 16 years in prison, and even if you are let off those prison charges, you may find you're now ineligible to ever be covered by the program again. They will forgive you your accounting errors, BUT!!

This is why I think anything short of MediCare for all, or Universal Single Payer health care is a huge mistake.

BTW, according to what I am reading about Rachel Maddow in Rolling Stone, she has a huge connection with the HIV situation. She took the time and effort to document the situation of people in prison with AIDS. this effort formed part of her thesis for her Master's Degree. It is one of her pet topics. Whoever is able to get this information about Medicaid and Black women and HIV to her should attempt doing so. She probably would give this scenario some coverage.

[Gormy Cuss]

2. Ugh. The loss of Medicaid expansion really screws a lot of poor people

and that means that it disproportionately burdens women and people of color.

It makes no sense to make it harder for the most destitute people to receive health care assistance. I hope that Congress and the admin are working on a swift solution.