With Covered California’s three-month open-enrollment period starting Nov. 1, it’s a great time to shop for the best fit for your health coverage. During Covered California open enrollment, which runs through Jan. 31, consumers can choose among 11 name-brand health insurance plans that offer high-quality and affordable coverage. Here are some helpful tips.
Shop, shop, shop around.
Covered California’s online Shop and Compare Tool provides consumers with detailed information about various health plans in specific regions throughout the state. You can compare premium costs, the four pricing tiers, and subsidies available to help you pay for coverage. With some health insurance premium costs expected to rise in 2017, the Shop and Compare Tool allows consumers to evaluate their options. Try out the Shop and Compare Tool.
Get in-person help to find the best value.
Health insurance is complicated. Getting help choosing the right plan and completing the application is free and confidential. There are thousands of Covered California certified insurance agents and enrollment counselors located throughout the state. They can help guide you to the health plan that is the best fit and best value for you and your family. Find free local help to enroll.
Check out provider networks.
If you want to visit a particular doctor, be sure to check with the specific health plan to confirm that the physicians you want to see are indeed in the plan’s network of doctors. In 2017, each enrollee in a Covered California health plan will be assigned a primary care physician. Learn more about primary care physicians.
Vision and dental plans offer added bonuses.
While children’s dental and vision coverage has always been included as part of all health insurance plans sold through Covered California, adults can now enroll in family dental and vision plans at competitive rates.
Enroll early, get health coverage earlier.
Enrolling in a Covered California health plan by Dec. 15 allows you to start the new year with coverage. Having health insurance in place starting Jan. 1 can reduce your worries about having to pay a tax penalties for not being covered, which are $695 per adult and half that amount for those under age 18 in the household or 2.5 percent of your family income — whichever is greater. Additionally, gone is the mental gamble of hoping nothing happens — such as a car accident, sports injury, or unexpected illness.
In response to a campaign ad by San Francisco Supervisor Jane Kim attacking an HIV-positive, formerly homeless gay man featured in an ad by Equality California, Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur issued the following statement:
“It is a tactic for some candidates in electoral campaigns to attack the character and integrity of their opponents in order to marginalize and discredit their participation in the political process. Starting in the primary in the race for Senate District 11, Supervisor Jane Kim launched a coordinated attack on our endorsed candidate, Supervisor Scott Wiener, and on Equality California itself. She spread blatantly false information about the funding of our electoral program in an attempt to disparage the character of Supervisor Wiener and the integrity of Equality California. Kim launched her attack at a time when Equality California was running ads focused solely on Supervisor Wiener’s endorsements and record of accomplishments.
The latest example of Supervisor Kim’s use of these troubling campaign tactics occurred this week when she attacked the character of Gary McCoy, who volunteered to participate in an ad prepared by Equality California PAC that focused on Supervisor Kim’s record on homelessness. McCoy is an HIV-positive gay man who fought substance abuse and nearly developed full-blown AIDS while living on the streets. In the ad, he discussed Kim’s purported support and compassion for the City’s homeless population with her opposition to measures that would provide $1 billion in funding over 20 years for homeless assistance programs and for transitional and permanent housing.
In response to the ad, Supervisor Kim launched a character attack on McCoy, asserting falsely that he was paid to participate in the ad, in an apparent effort to raise questions about his veracity and honesty. The Kim campaign went on to assert that “nothing he says is true.”
In fact, the ad educating voters about Kim’s record on homelessness was entirely accurate, as documented by numerous news accounts and by Kim’s own, publicly accessible voting record. Her claims that McCoy was paid to participate in the ad are wholly false. Our organization contacted him after reading his moving story online about how Supervisor Wiener helped him off the streets, into recovery from meth addiction and, ultimately, into a job at city hall. He volunteered his time because he felt voters should know the truth about Kim’s record of opposing and obstructing measures that would bring real help to San Francisco’s homeless population.
Kim has once again obscured the issues at hand with outright lies and personal attacks on anyone who dares to support her opponent. We urge her to return to an honest discussion of the issues that matter to San Francisco and to California.”
Legendary LGBTQ filmmaker and human rights activist Pat Rocco will receive the inaugural Troy Perry Medal of Pride, honoring LGBTQ people and allies who are on the front lines of community activism around the world. In recognition of LGBTQ History Month, the award will be presented by Rev. Troy Perry, in whose name the awards have been created, at a special event launching The Lavender Effect® Queer History Channel and Student Filmmaker Competition at the W Hollywood Hotel, Oct. 26 from 6-8 p.m. The event is free and open to the public at the Rooftop Pool.
Pat Rocco captured some of the most important historic moments of LGBTQ history on film during the 1960s and 1970s, including the first march from Olivera Street to the State Building in Los Angeles, candlelight marches, protests at famed West Hollywood bar Barney’s Beanery, the first gay pride parade and countless other events. Most of these early events and protests were led by LGBTQ human rights activist Rev. Troy Perry.
Rev. Troy D. Perry is a renowned international LGBTQ human rights activist, a pioneer in social equality, legal protection and spiritual justice for LGBTQ people. Rev. Perry led historic gay rights marches in the 1960’s and co-founded the Christopher Street West organization to launch the first LA PRIDE event in 1970. He is perhaps best known as a leader in the marriage equality movement and the founder of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) denomination, the first church to recognize the spiritual needs of the gay community which sparked a worldwide movement, now with more than 160 churches in 33 countries.
In addition to Pat Rocco, Jamaican LGBT human rights activist Angeline Jackson will receive the Troy Perry Medal of Pride at the October 26 event. Angeline is an LGBTQ activist, HIV/AIDS educator, and the Executive Director of Quality of Citizenship Jamaica, the first organization specifically for lesbian, bisexual and transgender women in Jamaica. The Troy Perry Medal of Pride is a year-round program of Los Angeles-based Metropolitan Community Charities to honor LGBTQ people and allies engaged in community action. The annual Troy Perry New Vision Awards will be presented to innovative community leaders and their programs in June 2017.
Thursday, December 1 marks the fifteenth year Food For Thought hosts
Sonoma County’s annual Dining Out For Life event, which is also World AIDS Day. 87 area
restaurants and cafes will participate, donating 25% or 50% of the day’s sales to Food For
Thought, which provides life-giving nutritional services to over 800 men, women, and
children living with HIV and other serious illnesses in Sonoma County.
Dining Out For Life is a unique event where people can enjoy lunch or dinner at their favorite
restaurants knowing that they are also benefiting their friends and neighbors in need. “It’s
our biggest fundraiser of the year. The proceeds from Dining Out for Life ensure that we’re
able to keep providing fresh groceries, a congregate lunch program, produce from our organic
garden, vitamins and supplements, and nutrition education to our clients, who receive these
services for free and for as long as they need them,” said Ron Karp, executive director of Food
For Thought.
HIV remains a significant challenge in Sonoma County, as more people are affected by the
epidemic than ever before. Dining Out For Life is an international event held in over 65 cities
in the U.S. and Canada, raising $4 million annually for HIV/AIDS-related services. Food For
Thought hopes to raise over $165,000 to support its work from this event.
More restaurants and more types of restaurants than ever before are participating in Dining
Out For Life. Diners can enjoy a fast-casual dining experience or a farm-to-table meal utilizing
the best ingredients Sonoma County has to offer. The complete restaurant list is available at
FFTfoodbank.org.
Participating establishments are located in Bodega Bay, Cotati, Forestville, Graton,
Guerneville, Healdsburg, Occidental, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Sonoma,
Valley Ford, and Windsor.
According to the Public Affairs Council, strong majorities of Americans are concerned about all forms of discrimination — whether it’s based on race, gender identity, sexual orientation, gender, disability, religion, or age. A new survey shows that the problem of racial discrimination is considered the most serious discrimination challenge the country faces, followed by gender identity (transgender) discrimination.
Attitudes about discrimination vary sharply based on political party, age, gender and other factors.
The results come from the 2016 Public Affairs Pulse survey, a telephone poll of 1,000 Americans conducted Sept. 12–17 by Public Opinion Strategies and sponsored by the Public Affairs Council.
Nearly three-quarters (74%) of Americans believe racial discrimination is at least a serious problem and 37 percent say it is a very serious problem. Similar percentages call gender identity discrimination at least serious (67%) or very serious (37%).
Differences Between Political Parties
Republicans, on balance, are less likely than Democrats and Independents to see discrimination across these seven areas as serious problems. The largest differences between Republicans and Democrats show up in attitudes about gender identity discrimination (46 percent of Republicans versus 84 percent of Democrats view the matter to be serious) and sexual orientation (45 percent of Republicans versus 79 percent of Democrats say this is a serious problem). The smallest difference in attitudes relates to religious discrimination (52 percent of Republicans and 70 percent of Democrats call this issue serious).
Many Business Anti-Discrimination Efforts Go Unnoticed
Major companies receive little credit for their efforts to reduce discrimination. One in three Americans (34%) think corporations have played a positive role in reducing discrimination of people with disabilities, and slightly lower percentages recognize business efforts to reduce discrimination by gender (28%), race (27%) and sexual orientation (26%). For discrimination by gender identity, religion and age, more Americans feel companies have played a negative role than positive role.
If major companies were to take steps to prevent discrimination based on any of these factors, most Americans say they would view these efforts favorably.
For full survey results and methodology, visit pac.org/pulse.
Disparities around HIV health outcomes seem to be intensifying across the nation, as the virus continues to disproportionately impact people of color, gay and bi men, trans women, homeless youth, and women experiencing domestic violence, drug use, sexual exploitation, and/or mental health issues. Latinos in Miami, for example, are more likely to contract HIV, more likely to see it progress to AIDS, and more likely to die from AIDS complications than their white counterparts (in fact, Latino gay men in Miami-Dade County live only half as long as white gay men after an AIDS diagnosis).
Hoping to combat these kinds of disparities, the California HIV/AIDS Research Program has granted $9 million over four years to support innovative projects at University of California Centers for AIDS Research in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego.
In Los Angeles, an estimated 4,000 homeless youth spend the night on the streets, beaches, basketball courts, public parks, or in abandoned buildings, according to CHARP. These kids still manage to find ways to get online and connect with friends. So one L.A. program uses artificial intelligence software to determine which of these homeless kids has the higher social network reach and then recruits and trains them to distribute HIV information, condoms, and free food to their peers.
One San Francisco initiative uses teleconferencing to reach young adult substance users who are living with HIV but don’t take their meds regularly. A University of California San Diego-developed program, EmPower Women, connects HIV-positive women who have “been there” — through substance abuse, incarceration, partner violence, or mental illness — to peers struggling with similar issues.
Exploiting the strong social networks in Oakland’s black and Latino, largely gay, bi, and trans house and ball community; the University of California San Francisco is collaborating on family-style prevention and treatment initiatives. These “houses” generally offer surrogate families, making them ideal settings for education and other HIV activities (like all members getting tested together).
Several programs are leveraging tech to reach at-risk individuals, connecting them with care and keeping them adherent to meds and check-ups. The HealthMindr app is one example. It was designed specifically for young men of color who are HIV-positive, but may also have conflicted feelings about having sex with other men or using drugs, and thus fail to keep regular appointments at clinics.
By empowering those in underserved communities to help themselves, these grant-funded programs have a chance to make a real difference, in both the lives of HIV-positive people and in the epidemic itself.
Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) released a new video ad featuring Hillary Clinton’s historic commitment to fighting for full LGBTQ equality.
“Time and again Hillary Clinton has demonstrated through her words and actions that she is committed to fighting for full LGBTQ equality,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “All of the progress we’ve achieved is at stake in this election. While Donald Trump continues his hate-filled campaign and threatens to drag us backwards, Hillary Clinton will fight to break down the walls of discrimination that still hold us back. It’s crucially important that pro-equality Americans turn out and vote for Hillary Clinton as the next President of the United States.”
In the video, Hillary Clinton says, “We need to build an America where no one has to worry that they can get married on Saturday and be fired on Monday; where kids aren’t bullied just because of who they are; and where every American has the chance to live up to his or her God-given potential, no matter who they are or who they love.”
Watch the video above.
In addition to her long record as a champion for LGBTQ rights both in the U.S. and around the globe, Hillary Clinton has proposed the most robust pro-LGBTQ equality agenda of any presidential candidate in history. She has called the Equality Act her “highest priority,” and her detailed LGBTQ policy platform specifically calls for outlawing dangerous “conversion therapy” for minors, ending the epidemic of transgender violence, and supporting HIV prevention and affordable treatment, among other proposals that would advance equality and support the LGBTQ community. Find out more at www.hrc.org/hrc
The new video is part of HRC’s unprecedented digital campaign in a get-out-the-vote effort aimed at more than 2 million potential pro-equality voters nationwide.
One of the men convicted in the brutal 2002 murder of a transgender teen has been approved for parole after serving 14 years in prison, NBC Bay Area reports.
Jose Merél was convicted of second-degree murder in the 2002 beating death of Gwen Araujo, in which he and another young man killed the 17-year-old after discovering she was transgender. Merél was sentenced to 15 years to life. The parole approval is the first step in a five-month process leading to his release from custody.
The night Araujo was murdered, she attended a party at Merél’s home. At the party, Araujo was interrogated about her gender and discovered to be trans. Two of the men who’d had sex with Araujo — Merél and Michael Magidson — became enraged and began to assault her. Two other men, Jaron Nabors and Jason Casarez, witnessed the assault and left to get tools to bury the teen’s body after she was beaten and strangled to death.
During trial, attorneys for Merél and Magidson used a “trans panic” defense to avoid a hate crime enhancement, arguing that the men lost it after discovering they had sex with a transgender woman, rather than a cisgender one.
Araujo’s death inspired California to pass Gwen Araujo Justice for Victims Act in 2006, which limited the use of the “gay/trans panic” defense. In 2014, that law was strengthened by the passage of a law prohibiting defendants from even invoking the so-called defense.
Gay and bisexual men convicted of now-abolished sexual offences in England and Wales are to receive posthumous pardons, the government has announced.
Thousands of living men convicted over consensual same-sex relationships will also be eligible for the pardon.
Lib Dem peer Lord Sharkey, who proposed the amendment to the Policing and Crimes Bill, said it was “momentous”.
It follows the pardoning of World War Two code-breaker Alan Turing for gross indecency in 2013.
Under the amendment – dubbed “Turing law” – deceased people who were convicted of sexual acts that are no longer deemed criminal will receive an automatic pardon.
Anyone living who has been convicted of such offences could already apply through the Home Office to have the offence wiped from their criminal records.
But now, if the Home Office agrees that the offence is no longer an offence under current law, they will automatically be pardoned.
Justice Minister Sam Gyimah said it was “hugely important that we pardon people convicted of historical sexual offences who would be innocent of any crime today”.
Lord Sharkey said he understood why some people may not want a pardon, or may “feel that it’s wrong”.
But, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, “a pardon is probably the best way of acknowledging the real harm done by the unjust and cruel homophobic laws, which thankfully we’ve now repealed. And I do hope that a lot of people will feel exactly the same way”.
He said of the 65,000 men convicted under the laws, 15,000 are still alive.
‘I will not accept a pardon’
George Montague was convicted in 1974 of gross indecency with a man. He says he wants an apology – not a pardon.
“To accept a pardon means you accept that you were guilty. I was not guilty of anything. I was only guilty of being in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he told BBC Newsnight.
“I think it was wrong to give Alan Turing – one of the heroes of my life – a pardon.
“What was he guilty of? He was guilty of the same as what they called me guilty of – being born only able to fall in love with another man.”
He added: “If I get an apology, I will not need a pardon.”
He added that there “never should have been an offence of gross indecency”.
“It didn’t apply to heterosexuals. Heterosexuals could do what they liked, in the doorways, in passageways, the back of their car.
“It only applied to gay men. That’s not right, surely?”
The Sexual Offences Act decriminalised private homosexual acts between men aged over 21 in England and Wales, in 1967.
The law was not changed in Scotland until 1980, or in Northern Ireland until 1982.
Announcing the new plan, Mr Gyimah said the government would support Lord Sharkey’s amendment to the Policing and Crime Bill – which would apply to England and Wales, but not Scotland and Northern Ireland as the Justice Department does not cover devolved administrations.
The petition gathered almost 640,000 signatories, including the actors Stephen Fry and Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Turing in the film about the enigma code, The Imitation Game.
The charity Stonewall, which campaigns for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, said it has begun discussions with the Scottish government to allow similar procedures to be introduced in Scotland.
In Northern Ireland, the Rainbow Project, also a charity and campaign group, met with the justice minister in August to discuss the law around historical convictions.
Cyanide poisoning
Turing, the Bletchley Park code-breaker, was convicted in 1952 of gross indecency with a 19-year-old man.
He was later chemically castrated and died in 1954 after poisoning himself with cyanide.
His pardon, almost 60 years later, followed a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Lord Sharkey.
The Lib Dem peer said it was “a momentous day for thousands of families up and down the UK”.
He said: “It is a wonderful thing that we have been able to build on the pardon granted to Alan Turing during the coalition.”
Turing’s great niece Rachel Barnes said the moment Turing’s family heard he was to receive a pardon was “absolutely tremendous”.
She told the Today programme: “Alan Turing just so, so deserves this. To think that this is the man who cracked the enigma code and saved countless of millions of lives during World War Two and to think of the treatments that he went through at the hands of the government in 1952 is still unbelievable to us.”
She said that the family has always highlighted his achievements rather than the fact he was a gay man.
She added: “Because we shouldn’t be thinking about his sexuality, we should really be focusing on the successes of this incredible man in history who has done so much for the country and for the world”.
Private Member’s Bill
The government has said it will not be supporting a separate Private Member’s Bill on the subject – introduced by SNP MP John Nicolson – which is set to be debated on Friday.
Mr Nicolson, the MP for East Dunbartonshire, has proposed a blanket pardon for those still living, without the need to apply for their criminal records to be cleared by the Home Office.
Mr Gyimah said such a move could see people claiming pardons for acts that are still illegal.
“This would cause an extraordinary and unnecessary amount of distress to victims,” he added.
Paul Twocock from Stonewall welcomed the announcement but said it supported Mr Nicolson’s Private Member’s Bill.
Mr Twocock said the bill “explicitly” excluded pardoning anyone convicted of offences that would still be illegal today, including non-consensual sex and sex with someone under 16.
Happn, the leading global dating app that enables users to discover the people they’ve crossed paths with in real life, has teamed up with the national lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) media advocacy organization, GLAAD, to encourage Happn users to take a stand against LGBTQ bullying.
In support of GLAAD and Spirit DayThursday, Oct. 20, Happn will launch a powerful U.S. campaign grounded in the frightening statistic that nearly three-quarters (74%) of students reported experiencing some type of peer victimization in the past school year. According to research by GLSEN, bullying and harassment remain a significant concern of students, families and schools all across the country. Furthermore, despite legal and cultural changes, LGBTQ students continue to face hostile school climates.
On Spirit Day, a full screen image will pop up when users first fire up Happn. “Words Can Hurt” will appear in the foreground of the first image. The secondary image is a call-to-action that cites the harrowing youth statistic, encourages Happn users to take part in Spirit Day, and directs them to glaad.org/spiritday, where they can:
Go purple. Use GLAAD’s mobile app to turn your Happn profile picture purple.
Join the conversation. Take part in the movement on social media – Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat – by using #SpiritDay.
Make a donation. Provide a contribution that will help GLAAD carry out its work – including Spirit Day – as the organization seeks to accelerate acceptance for LGBTQ people around the world.
“We choose words carefully in portraying ourselves in order to charm others when filling out our dating profiles. If only we could be equally as mindful of the derogatory words used towards the LGBTQ community,” said Didier Rappaport, CEO and co-founder, Happn. “To show our support for the GLAAD youth-driven cause, Happn is leveraging its platform to raise awareness, and challenging its users to rewrite the script for LGBTQ acceptance in America and across the globe.”
With Covered California’s three-month open-enrollment period starting Nov. 1, it’s a great time to shop for the best fit for your health coverage. During Covered California open enrollment, which runs through Jan. 31, consumers can choose among 11 name-brand health insurance plans that offer high-quality and affordable coverage. Here are some helpful tips.
