The Latest HIV & Health News From DC
On Friday, June 15, the Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee will begin to mark up the Federal Fiscal Year 2019 Appropriations bills. Markup is the process by which a Congress debates, amends, and rewrites proposed legislation. That means we need you contact your Representatives and Senators and tell them to keep federal HIV funding! Read the latest update from our Policy Team.
Loss of Protection for Pre-Existing Conditions Will Hurt HIV Fight
The Trump Administration announcement that they will no longer defend the Affordable Care Act’s protections for people with preexisting conditions endangers health care coverage for people with pre-existing conditions like HIV, cancer, asthma, or diabetes, all of which have a disproportionate impact on communities of color. Read NMAC’s full statement.
NMAC Opposes Proposed Gag Rule on Medical Providers
NMAC opposes the Trump Administration’s proposed “gag rule” to remove Title X family planning funds from providers that offer abortion services or referrals. Such providers are a vital, life-saving point of entry to care for people living with HIV and to prevention services for those at higher risk for HIV, particularly people of color and those in lower-income communities. Read NMAC’s full statement.
Progress in National HIV/AIDS Strategy, But Much Work Still Ahead
The 2017 Progress Report on the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (link) released by the Department of Health and Human Services shows that progress is being made in some areas, but much work still needs to be done in other areas to not only reach the strategy’s goals for 2020 but to prevent any loss of progress made. Read NMAC’s full statement.
USCA Scholarship Deadline is June 29
Time is running out to apply for a USCA scholarship! The deadline to apply for 
an Option A or B Scholarship is 5:00 PM EST, Friday, June 29.
Scholarship A recipients will receive a non-transferrable complimentary conference registration. Those who qualify for Option B will receive a $100 travel subsidy, a non-transferrable complementary conference registration, and two nights lodging at the host hotel.
HIV & Transgender Community Spotlight Webinar is June 20
Join NMAC for our next Community Spotlight webinar on June 20, when we will look at HIV among Transgender Americans. Our presenters will be Luis Gutierrez-Mock, TRIUMPH Project Director at the Center of Excellence for Transgender Health and Aryah Lester, Conference Coordinator at NMAC. Register now.
Become an NMAC Member!
NMAC relies on the support of both individuals and organizations to advance its critical work to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. Your generous support allows us to ensure that the voices of minorities vulnerable to and living with HIV are heard in Washington, DC. It also helps us provide our critical training, education activities, and programming. Become an NMAC member today!
June is LGBTQ Pride Month. While NMAC is not an exclusively LGBTQ organization, we were founded by LGBTQ activists in some of the darkest days of the HIV epidemic.
NMAC‘s Capacity Building Division will present A Novel Demonstration of HIV Navigation Evaluation webinar Wednesday, June 13, from 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EDT.
Congress is entering the third and final step of the Appropriations process for 2019. In the coming months, they will make final decisions on all federal funding, including for HIV/AIDS care, prevention, and services. That means it’s time to call, e-mail, or visit your Members of Congress and tell them to keep federal funding intact. Read the 
June 5 is HIV Long-Term Survivors Day, a time to celebrate and honor long-term survivors of the epidemic and raise awareness of their needs, issues, and journeys.
Diane Ferguson joins us as Development Associate. She worked at AARP as a Library Assistant/Research Information Specialist for 16 years. She also worked at AARP as the Executive Secretary for The Center to Champion Nursing in America for two years and as a Project Specialist in the Public Policy Institute for six years. After 24 years she left AARP and became a partner in Ferguson Property Care/Ferguson Auto Detailing. Missing the corporate environment, Diane returned to work as an Administrative Assistant at the National Quality Forum.
the organization Trans-Miami during her time as an expert consult member of the Miami Enhanced Comprehensive HIV Prevention Plan for the National HIV/AIDS Strategy and 12-Cities Project, and continued the work of her organization, the National Alliance of Transgender Advocates and Leaders (NATAL). Ms. Lester has been recognized with many awards, featured in numerous national articles, and was inducted into the most recent national Trans100 list.
As we mentioned in last week’s Connection, we want your opinion on options for the 2018 USCA theme.
In our fight, Larry Kramer is mythic. As a young queen who was overwhelmed by the loss of so many friends, I found inspiration and courage from Larry’s iconic piece in the 
hcare, medications, and wrap-around services has never been greater. Not only is there great benefit to the individuals, but there is also a prevention factor. Ending this epidemic requires leaders from communities living with HIV and people who are sexually active or use needles to work together. We have the science to create real pathways to end HIV. What would Larry say if we wasted this opportunity?
Our movement owes a huge debt to all the leaders who spoke truth to power. It may seem unbelievable now, but there truly was a time… I’m going to leave that story for Larry to share. Join us as we sit at the feet of one of our movement’s elders. Space will be limited and NMAC may need to adjust seating arrangements so that everyone will fit.
NMAC gave an olive branch to the new Director when we invited him to the 
We can’t do this alone. It’s going to take a movement to make this work. This is the first bridge we’ve had to an administration that has many of us concerned. Deciding to cross the bridge is a test of our leadership. For some it will be impossible. For others it will be impossible not to. There is no clear right answer, but NMAC has always been committed to working with the federal government regardless of the administration. This is also our test.
