32 guys showed up to hear Sonia Diaz’s presentation on Positive Healthcare. She brought light snacks and as I was showing people our Christmas Tree downstairs (which is absolutely FABulous), someone offered us the 2 leftover trays of meatballs and meatballs. So we had a full meal.
Sonia gave everyone a package that presented the plans Positive Healthcare offered. They ONLY offer plans to people on Medicare or Medicaid. Positive Healthcare is a non-profit organization designed for people with HIV and as such is the only health care plan designed this way. She explained the the difference between Medicare and Medicaid, the difference between Medicare Part A, B, C and D and HMO, PPO and Point of Sale healthcare plans. She went into detail about the donut hole for prescription drug coverage explaining to us the different level:
1.First $310 is paid by the patient
2.Drug cost up to $2840, the patient pays 25% (2840-310 = 2530 x 25% = 632.50).
3. Donut Hole: Drug cost up to $4550 where the patient pays 100%. (4550 – 2840 = 1710)
4. Catastrophic Coverage; after 4550, the patient pays a flat 5%
Positive Healthcare is an HMO which is a plan where you have a nurse oversee your healthcare and you only see doctors in-network. A plan like this has a lower premium than a PPO.
Medicare only pays 80% of your medical needs. You are responsible for the other 20%. The Positive Healthcare plan covers all 100% being a medicare and supplemental plan.
It was a tough audience and a few people were asking her off-topic questions. The health care system in this country is inadequate and we can’t blame the companies for this situation. The government needs to resolve this issue.
I want to thank Sonia Diaz and Positive Healthcare for this presentation, the food and for being a company that specializes in HIV. We do need you.
After break (the meatballs ran out). We talked about the new drug BIT225 coming out of Australian company Biotron that will allow the Natural Killer T-cells do their job and attack HIV by neutralizes the Vpu protein that now stops this from happening. This is exciting news and ground breaking. This is the first class of drug that moves from just stopping HIV replication to allowing the immune system to attack the virus. The drug is currently in Phase II studies, but we need to keep watch on this.
We also talked about up coming events, Friday Night movie, Saturday night concert at MCC with Gay Men’s chorus, Saturday night LIFE Wonderland party at The Pride Center and Sunday church at MCC. There’s a lot scheduled this weekend, so take advantage of some of these activities and don’t forget to check out our Christmas Tree in the MAIN room (not the Lobby) of The Pride Center ( Look for the sign that says THIS TREE DECORATED BY THE MEN OF POSITE ATTITUDES). So bring your butt over to The Pride Center and hang your balls on the tree as a gesture of group support.
-Steve
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POZitive Attitudes 