WASHINGTON
—
More
than
1.5
million
people
in
the
United
States
have
been
infected
with
HIV
since
the
first
cases
of
what
would
become
known
as
the
AIDS
virus
were
reported
in
June
1981,
according
to
the
Kaiser
Family
Foundation.
A
new
report
summarizes
the
U.S.
government’s
response
to
the
epidemic,
in
which
more
than
500,000
people
already
have
died,
the
foundation’s
HIV
Positive
Program
reported.
The
group
offers
the
most
recent
estimates
for
the
prevalence
of
HIV
in
the
nation,
key
trends,
and
data
on
the
government’s
reaction.
The
largest
portion
of
government
spending
to
fight
HIV
is
through
Medicaid,
which
made
up
49
percent,
or
$5.7
billion,
of
federal
spending
on
HIV/AIDS
in
fiscal
year
2005,
the
fact
sheet
shows.
Medicare
accounted
for
25
percent
or
$2.9
billion
of
such
spending,
Ryan
White
program
funds
made
up
18
percent,
or
$2.1
billion,
and
other
sources
made
up
the
final
8
percent,
or
$0.9
billion,
of
the
total
$11.7
billion
that
the
U.S.
government
spent
on
HIV/AIDS
care
last
year.
That
total
compares
to
an
estimated
$3.1
billion
that
the
government
spent
on
Medicare,
Medicaid
and
Ryan
White
funding
in
1995.
The
report
notes,
“Medicare
will
continue
to
be
an
important
source
of
coverage
for
people
with
HIV/AIDS,
particularly
with
the
start
of
the
new
drug
benefit
in
2006.”
HELENA
(AP)
—
Montana
gay
rights
advocates
are
urging
businesses
to
cancel
their
health
coverage
with
Blue
Cross
Blue
Shield
of
Montana,
accusing
the
insurance
company
of
discrimination.
But
the
company
said
its
decision
to
halt
coverage
on
some
policies
for
a
person’s
unmarried
domestic
partner
was
based
on
a
recent
Montana
Supreme
Court
decision
and
the
state
law
that
defines
dependents.
“It
is
not
a
moral
decision,”
said
Tanya
Ask,
vice
president
of
government
affairs
for
Blue
Cross.
“It’s
a
very
clear
legal
decision.”
The
insurer
recently
decided
to
drop
coverage
in
its
“small
group”
plans
for
the
insured
person’s
unmarried
domestic
partner,
regardless
of
whether
the
partner
is
a
common-law
spouse
or
a
same-sex
partner.
The
decision
affects
about
10,000
to
20,000
people,
Ask
said.
WASHINGTON
(AP)
—
Two
organizations
that
promote
sex
education
are
taking
an
unorthodox
approach
in
their
fight
against
federal
funding
of
abstinence-only
education
programs.
Relying
on
a
little-used
law
that
allows
“affected
persons”
to
seek
the
correction
of
information
disseminated
by
federal
agencies,
the
groups
said
last
week
that
the
abstinence
education
programs
contain
erroneous
and
ineffective
information.
They
asked
the
Health
&
Human
Services
Department
to
correct
it.
About
three-quarters
of
the
challenges
made
under
the
two-year-old
Information
Quality
Act
have
come
from
industry
groups
concerned
about
regulations.
The
two
sex-ed
organizations,
Advocates
for
Youth
and
the
Sexuality
Information
&
Education
Council
of
the
United
States,
support
educating
youth
about
contraceptives
as
a
means
of
avoiding
pregnancies
and
sexually
transmitted
diseases.
CHICAGO
(AP)
—
Gov.
Rod
Blagojevich
(D)
last
week
surprised
an
audience
gathered
to
hear
him
announce
the
state
would
double
funding
for
an
HIV/AIDS
awareness
program
targeting
blacks
when
he
returned
to
the
microphone
to
say
he
was
inspired
to
increase
the
money
tenfold.
It
was
unclear
how
the
state
would
come
up
with
the
$2.5
million
for
the
Brothers
&
Sisters
United
Against
HIV/AIDS
program.
Blagojevich
spokesperson
Cheryle
Jackson
said
the
initial
increase
to
$500,000
was
budgeted
for,
but
the
additional
$2
million
was
not.
Still,
she
said
she
expects
the
governor
to
find
the
money.
“I
think
it’s
a
matter
of
priorities,”
Jackson
said.
“A
crisis
like
this,
you
look
at
those
kind
of
numbers
[of
blacks
with
HIV
or
AIDS],
you
kind
of
reshuffle
the
deck,
reshuffle
the
priorities.”
Blagojevich
said
he
spontaneously
decided
to
step
up
the
funding
because
he
was
so
moved
by
other
speakers.
SACRAMENTO
—
Smoking
rates
may
be
at
overall
historic
lows,
but
among
gay
Californians,
the
rate
of
smoking
is
significantly
higher,
according
to
new
data
from
the
California
Department
of
Health
Services.
The
report
offers
the
first-ever
population-specific
data.
Smoking
rates
among
gay
residents
hit
30.4
percent,
which
is
double
the
state
average
of
15.4
percent.
The
study
shows
that
32.5
percent
of
lesbians
smoke,
a
rate
almost
triple
that
of
women
generally.
Some
27.4
percent
of
gay
men
smoke,
compared
to
California
men
in
general
who
smoke
at
a
rate
of
19.1
percent.
The
highest
smoking
rates
were
discovered
among
gays
ages
18
to
24,
of
which
43.7
percent
smoke.
