AIDSWatch: Virginians were on Capitol Hill!
AND YOU MADE YOUR VOICE HEARD IN WASHINGTON
On April 23 - 25, a host of good-looking Virginians visited the staff of your national elected officials, and represented well the concerns of Virginians Living with HIV in our State!
Mike Hughes went to Washington. He wrote to us, "I was SURPRISED how knowledgeable Senator' Warner's health Aide was on the points we brought up and how many notes he actually took. My humble opinion was that he seemed to have a genuine Interest. Additionally, Representative Moran's health Aide albeit fairly new herself was keenly interested in what we all had to say and was very familiar with what programs Representative Moran supports and has supported in the past. I truly believe that this was a useful visit.
Myself, I personally approached and presented information concerning the Medicare Part D problem with the cost of the ADAP drugs not counting towards qualifying to count towards the $3850.00 “Donut Hole” for those on ADAP. …I approached this from the aspect that my personal savings will not last long paying these $8,000.00-$10,000.00 Medical/Prescription bills each year. There are many of us in this category also. I presented each Aide a list of all of my TEN prescriptions and monthly cost for each. I must take each of these prescriptions each day for my various AIDS and various AIDS Related Ailments."
And Brent Minor was there, too –"It was amazing to listen to the experiences of our small group. Most were people, like myself, who had been diagnosed for over 20 years and hearing their stories is a living history of this epidemic. It opened a lot of eyes of those Hill staffers, some of whom were younger than the AIDS epidemic itself. While it is heartening to still be around, it is disappointing that we are still having to argue for sufficient funding to combat this disease, effective and truthful prevention messages, and adequate protection against stigma and discrimination. It demonstrates why this work must continue."
And so was Phillip Bailey, and Ed Cavanaugh, and Wade Manear, and David Hoover, and Laird Peterson, and (I don't know everyone!!)
YOU COULDN'T GO TO WASHINGTON?
Not to worry! Contact your own legislators and tell your story — today! Or any day — it's never too early or too late —
For help with that — visit "Take Action" on the link to the right —
Thanks to everyone who went to Washington. And thanks to Everyone that is in contact with their own legislators — it DOES make a difference!!