HIV Specialist - March 2021 - 4

NEWS

I NFOR M AT ION FOR H I V CA RE PROV I DERS

IN
THE

Biden Administration Moves to Roll Back Medicaid State Work Requirements

CCORDING TO POLITICO , the
Department of Health and Human
Services has created a draft
rollout plan calling for a rescission of
Medicaid Work Requirements, essentially a
cancellation of the Trump Administration's
program calling for work requirements to
access Medicaid. This mostly affects any
Republican-led states (Arizona, Arkansas,
Georgia, Indiana, Nebraska, New Hampshire,
Ohio, South Carolina, Utah, Wisconsin) that
had applied and been approved for waivers
to implement work rules.
The Academy has long been concerned
about the impact of work requirements
since early impositions of such requirements
resulted in loss of insurance for tens of
thousands of people. For example, in

Arkansas, the only state to fully implement
work requirements, over 18,000 people lost
coverage in seven months of implementation
of the policy representing 1 in 4 people
subject to the requirement. Further, studies
showed that the work requirement increased
the number of uninsured people without
increasing employment rates. Although
a court case stopped implementation in
Michigan, 80,000 people were at risk for loss
of coverage. A study from the Kaiser Family
Foundation showed that job losses due to the
economic downturn related to the COVID-19
pandemic had the potential to create further
loss of coverage due to work requirements.
The move additionally has the possibility
of impacting court cases regarding Medicaid
work requirements that had worked their

Dr. Jeffrey Kwong Named Co-Medical Director
of National HIV & Aging Initiative

HE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF HIV MEDICINE is
pleased to announce the appointment of Dr.
Jeffrey Kwong as Co-Medical Director of the
National HIV and Aging Initiative. A collaboration of
the Academy, the American Geriatrics Society (AGS)
and ACRIA, the Initiative is made up of nationallyrecognized HIV specialists and gerontologists. The goal
of the Initiative is to provide the latest science and
clinical guidance for optimal care of older people with HIV.
Launched in 2011 with the website HIV-Age.org, the Initiative's first
act was publishing " Recommended Treatment Strategies for Clinicians
Managing Older Persons with HIV. " With formal clinical guidance from the
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services several years away, these
strategies remain the only clinical guidance for treating older adults with HIV.
" As with many aspects of HIV care, care and treatment approaches
are constantly changing, and new research emerges on treating the
older adult with HIV, " said Bruce J. Packett, Executive Director of the
Academy. " The National HIV and Aging Initiative continues to be a
valuable resource for medical providers by regularly issuing updated
clinical content, and we welcome Dr. Kwong as Co-Medical Director
and recognize the unique perspective he brings to guiding the

way to the Supreme Court. The court had
scheduled oral arguments on the issue
for March 29th in a case which ruled that
Arkansas' work requirements were unlawful
and that the ruling applied to similar work
requirements in New Hampshire. Due to
the court cases, both Arkansas and New
Hampshire's work rules are technically still
pending, and the Administration could move to
reject them outright. Additionally, if the Biden
Administration does rescind the guidance in
advance of the Supreme Court arguments the
court case could be considered moot.
The Academy strongly believes that
people's access to insurance should not
be subject to removal based on arbitrary
criteria such as work and applauds the
Administration's efforts to resolve this issue.

MARCH 2021 HIVSPECIALIST WWW.AAHIVM.ORG

expansion of our work in this space. "
Dr. Kwong, a widely respected academic in HIV treatment
and prevention is also a leading expert in the provision of
care to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)
community and focuses on older LGBT adults. His work
includes the feasibility and benefit of nurse-led models
of care for older LGBT adults and he currently serves as a
Professor at the Rutgers School of Nursing where he was also
the program director of the Adult-Gerontology Primary Care Program.
Dr. Kwong earned his doctoral degree from the University of
Colorado and his master's degree in nursing from the University of
San Francisco. He also holds a master's degree in public health and a
bachelor's degree in social welfare from the University of California. Dr.
Kwong is a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners
(AANP), is certified by the American Nurse Credentialing Center, the
HIV/AIDS Nursing Certification Board, and is credentialed as an HIV
Specialist™ by the American Academy of HIV Medicine.
Dr. Kwong joins Dr. Meredith Green, Assistant Professor of Medicine
at the UC San Francisco School of Medicine as Co-Medical Director,
along with a diverse team of experts in HIV and Gerontology to lead
the National HIV and Aging Initiative.

http://www.HIV-Age.org http://WWW.AAHIVM.ORG

HIV Specialist - March 2021

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