Archives April 2021

The Community Education Group (CEG) and its Rural Health Service Providers Network (RHSPN) project reach 100 subscribers on YouTube.

#CEGInWV’s #PeopleWorthKnowing interview series features some of the amazing people working in and around public health and services. We have features some amazing people, including:

TruEvolution, Inc.’s Founder & CEO, Gabriel Maldonado

Advocates for Better Care Atlanta’s Founder & Executive Director, Tori Cooper

American Public Health Association’s Executive Director, Dr. Georges C. Benjamin

This week’s #PeopleWorthKnowing video features Deirdre Johnson, Founder of Deirdre Speaks and Co-Founder of Ending Criminalization of HIV and Overincarceration in Virginia (ECHO VA).

Since 2000, Deirdre has lived, learned and experienced HIV on her own terms. She utilizes her sense of humor and lively personality to openly share her medicine and medical adherence journey with the world using #MedsWillMakeMeDance.

Deirdre is transparent about how she is not allowing HIV to have control of her, but fearlessly taking control of HIV. Deirdre is a native of Virginia, and has worked as an educator, case manager, and speaker, however, she is most passionate about eradicating stigma, ending criminalization of people living with HIV, combating racial injustice, health disparities, and being an active Partner in Change as the Co-Founder of Ending Criminalization of HIV and Overincarceration in Virginia (ECHO VA). She serves as the State Lead for Positive Women’s Network – USA and a U = U Ambassador. She strives to live, learn and experience life with no apologies.

Learn more about ECHO VA and Deirdre Speaks by clicking the links below.

THE HIGH COST OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS leaves many Americans scrambling to pay healthcare costs, especially people who are living with chronic conditions like diabetes, hepatitis C, HIV, and various types of cancer. As a result, these patients often rely upon patient assistance programs and manufacturer coupons to help them afford expensive medications. For example, in a 2019 survey of more than 3,000 cancer patients, 17% had used drug manufacturers’ coupons or assistance programs.1 These options help many lower-income patients obtain the prescriptions they need—but those savings are often undercut or by co-pay accumulator programs.

How “Co-Pay Accumulators” Stifle Healthcare Access and Empty Patients’ Wallets breaks down the implications of Co-Pay Accumulator programs that have been instituted by health insurers, including how they are defined, how they are implemented, how they’re regulated, and illustrates three case studies of how American families whose insurance plans include Co-Pay Accumulators pay more out of pocket for treatments.