You did it! Congrats and thanks to House members & Pres. Obama!

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) thanks the U.S. House of Representatives for passing historic health care reform legislation last night and the thousands of AIDS advocates in Illinois and across the country who urged this critical action. This landmark legislation will expand health care access for 32 million Americans, including hundreds of thousands with HIV. AFC applauds President Barack Obama for his leadership and his unrelenting dedication to health care expansion.

The health care reform bill includes many provisions that will help people with HIV access health care, including the expansion of Medicaid to low-income adults without children; subsidies to make affordable private insurance available to individuals and employees in small businesses; steps to make the Medicare drug benefit more affordable by ending the coverage gap; and requiring health insurance companies to sell plans to everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Health care reform will transform the fight against HIV, making possible long-term reductions in deaths and fewer infections.

Although one bill that makes up the health reform package is headed to President Obama’s desk for signature, the fight for comprehensive, affordable health coverage continues. The U.S. Senate considers final elements of the bill this week.

Stay tuned for a final advocacy push from AFC’s Online Action Network.

Additional Information
 
Overview—health care reform and people with HIV 

How health reform will help people with HIV

AFC Vice President David Munar on CNN talking about health care reform

Read the real-life health insurance nightmares of people with HIV

View the Kaiser Family Foundation’s comparison of the final reform package and previous versions