Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New York City To Announce Plans To Boost HIV Prevention And Health Care Funding
The Associated Press: NYC Proposes $23M More In HIV Health Care
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and members of the City Council want to allocate an extra $23 million a year for AIDS prevention and health care programs. De Blasio plans to announce the plan on Tuesday, which is World AIDS Day. In 2014, about 2,700 New York City residents were newly diagnosed with HIV, a historical low. That's a 35 percent decrease from more than 4,100 new HIV diagnoses in 2004. (12/1)
The Pioneer Press: New HIV Cases Aren't Dropping, Says Minnesota Health Commissioner
Tuesday is World AIDS Day, and Minnesota Department of Health officials say that the number of cases isn't dropping in the state. According to estimates, 35 million people are living with HIV worldwide with about 2 million becoming infected last year. In the U.S., estimates are that 50,000 people continue to be infected with HIV each year and that 1.2 million people are currently living with HIV. In Minnesota, over the last 10 years an average of 300 new infections have been diagnosed each year -- highlighting the fact that HIV/AIDS case numbers are not dropping. An estimated 7,988 people are reported to be living with HIV/AIDS in the state. (11/30)
Elsewhere, one of the nation’s largest life insurers plans to announce this week that it will offer traditional individual policies to people living with HIV --
Kaiser Health News: Major Insurer Says It Will Offer Individual Life Insurance Coverage To People With HIV
Prudential Financial Inc., one of the nation’s largest life insurers, plans to announce this week that it will offer traditional individual policies to eligible people living with HIV, a condition that for decades has excluded most of them from any but the skimpiest of coverage, company officials said. It is the first such offering to be publicly announced by a major American insurer, and it signals a growing recognition that HIV/AIDS has evolved from a death sentence into a chronic but manageable disease, HIV advocates and insurance agents said. (Feder Ostrov, 12/1)
