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Rx Partnership Fights To Make Medications Affordable For All Virginians

Abigail Buchholz | July 25, 2019

Topics: amy yarcich, coverage, crossover ministry, HEALTH, health care, health coverage, Health insurance, healthcare, insurance, local news, medication, nonprofit, richmond nonprofit, rx partnership, virginia health, Virginia News

Life uninhibited by the financial strain of healthcare: Rx Partnership works to provide Virginians with affordable medications across the state. 

Since 2003, Virginia nonprofit Rx Partnership and their associated clinics have helped provide access to free prescription medicine to over 68,000 uninsured Virginians, totalling over $150 million in retail value. 

Rx Partnership accomplished this feat by facilitating a relationship between pharmaceutical companies and 26 free clinics throughout Virginia, donating medicines in bulk to bring affordable care to folks throughout the Commonwealth. Through the process, the nonprofit has received donated prescription drugs from companies such as Merck, Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, and Pfizer. 

“A lot of folks are being helped right now by Medicaid expansion, but at the same time, there are folks that make a little too much to qualify for that,” explained Amy Yarcich, Executive Director of Rx Partnership. “They’re not so well off that they can just open their wallet and afford an inhaler for their asthma for $125.”

Heads of households — who often work multiple jobs, providing for their families and putting food on the table — are the usual focus of these clinics. A recurring dilemma faced by these caregivers is the choice between medication for themselves and groceries for their family. 

“We look at it like [this]: the healthier the caregiver is, the better it is for the family,” said Yarcich.

Acting as a middle man, Rx Partnership cuts out expenses for clinics by buying prescription drugs. With the costs taken care of, individuals covered under PAP (Patient Assistance Programs for low-income people and those with no prescription insurance coverage) can receive treatment — and clinics are able to concentrate on serving more patients. 

“We keep a laser focus on medication access, and what we can do on a statewide scale,” said Yarcich. “That helps free up the clinics to really focus on patient care, and doing what they do best.” 

With 26 affiliated free clinics, Rx Partnership serves the whole Virginia community with licensed pharmacies. Each clinic is well-equipped with screening processes, which help them look at the income, household size, and access to insurance of their patients. This screening process is crucial to keeping the whole system running effectively, and to making sure those who need prescription medicine the most are able to get it at no cost. 

CrossOver Ministry receives support from Rx Partnership, and is the only free clinic in Richmond with a licensed on-site pharmacy. In order to qualify as a new non-Medicaid patient at CrossOver Ministries, patients must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level and have no form of insurance. 

Their clinic serves a diverse part of the community, and saw over 6,000 patients in 2016, providing 49,000 prescriptions. Led by Leo Ross, a decade-long volunteer at the pharmacy, a staff of 24 pharmacists help in handing out more than $10 million in medications to the community. These medications provide uninsured individuals with the life-saving medications needed to function in their community, and to live life uninhibited by the financial strain of their health. 

In Richmond, CrossOver Ministry provides a variety of care for patients in one convenient location. All in one building, they provide services ranging from dental to vision health, HIV testing, and mental health services. By keeping all of their facilities under one roof, CrossOver Ministry is able to foster intimate relationships in a close knit community. 

“They know the names of the front desk staff, and there’s a relationship there,” said Yarcich. “That’s really important.” 

Thanks to the work of Rx Partnership, these clinics are able to help the vulnerable Americans who miss out on the benefits of health insurance. For the most part, patients are between the ages of 18 and 64. Those younger than 18 benefit from programs that help minors get insurance, and those older than 64 benefit from Medicare. It’s the patients stuck in the middle that Rx Partnership focuses on. 

Often times, individuals at the clinics are suffering from chronic conditions that make it impossible to operate at 100 percent — so even if they do go to work, both their families and their careers are damaged in the process. 

Yarich recalled several of their patients’ stories, in particular focusing on chronic illness that prevented them from going to work. An unemployed man, who suffered from several chronic conditions, was unable to afford his medication. Because of the assistance he received from the program, he was able to get back on his feet; he even started supporting his family and taking care of his kids again. She shared a similar tale of a woman in the same situation who was able to afford both her medication and her children’s Christmas presents thanks to the clinic. 

Along with their continuous fight to increase pharmaceutical company donations, Rx Partnership works to raise awareness of their organization’s services to patients across Virginia. At the moment, specific medications are donated through established programs and contracts between the nonprofit and medication companies — but there is still a swath of medications from generic manufacturers that would benefit the public just as much (if not more). 

In the future, Rx Partnership wants to start helping patients who are underinsured. These individuals might be able to afford insurance, but their coverage is such that they’re going to struggle to pay for medications and start skipping doses or splitting pills. 

As the debate on universal healthcare continues, the future is uncertain for Americans who rely on good health insurance to navigate their day-to-day life.  Despite this uncertainty, Virginian residents can trust in organizations such as Rx Partnership and its clinics to act as a safety net for themselves and their families. 

Trump Plan Grants Doctors Special Religious Rights to Deny Care to Transgender Patients, Women Seeking Abortions

New Civil Rights Movement | April 29, 2019

Topics: conversion therapy, Department of Health and Human Services, health care, religious freedom, reproductive rights, transgender health care, Trump administration

As if doctor visits didn’t give us enough reason to worry as it is.

The Trump administration is finalizing details on its plan to grant special religious “rights” to medical professionals who claim a moral objection to providing care to transgender patients, or women seeking an abortion, among others.

The new rules would roll back Obama-era protections, according to a report by Politico.

The Trump administration’s so-called “conscience regulations” would extend far beyond those two scenarios.

The proposal, which would directly impact the Dept. of Health and Human Services, “would give HHS ‘a lot more authority and power’ to effectively remake and enforce existing conscience protections, said Katie Keith, a Georgetown University law professor who’s studied the regulations,” Politico notes.

For instance, a medical school receiving federal funds could not deny admission to applicants who refuse to perform abortions; providers could not require staff to inform patients about services like sterilization procedures or advance directives rejecting end-of-life care; and doctors and nurses would gain further protections to refuse providing services like vaccinations.

The forthcoming HHS nondiscrimination rules are the latest example of President Donald Trump violating a campaign pledge to protect the LGBTQ community, advocates for transgender people say. The administration’s ban on transgender troops took effect just weeks ago, and the health department reportedly tried to effectively eliminate the federal definition of “transgender.”

It’s possible the “conscience regulations” might extend to those who practice harmful “reparative” or “conversion” therapy, a pseudoscientific practice falsely purports to turn LGBTQ straight.

Written by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement. Image by torbakhopper via Flickr and a CC license

One Month After Bourdain’s Death, We Still Won’t Talk About Mental Health

Ash Griffith | July 10, 2018

Topics: Anthony Bourdain, Center for Disease Control and Prevention, depression, health care, mental health, restaurants, suicide

I could just barely reach our countertop when my father started teaching me how to cook. Chef celebrity culture quickly became a thing in the late 90s, and my father used it to his advantage to teach me how to cook what we saw on our television. We started working on proper knife skills after we read Anthony Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential for the first time in 2000.

Bourdain was forever brutally honest about his struggles with addiction, and never sugar coated his experiences. As a chef who worked with immigrants, he was vocal about their rights, and openly acknowledged that the Latinx community was the physical backbone of the service and hospitality industries. Kitchen Confidential not only made him a household name, but helped tear down what he coined “kitchen bro culture” and reformed kitchen procedures in restaurants.

In his later years he became an extremely vocal ally to the #MeToo movement by refusing to just stand idly by colleagues, such as Mario Batali, who were called out on their despicable behavior. He demanded other men be better allies to women, while simultaneously dissecting his own role and how he himself could be a better ally to women.

He was a man who grew up with privilege and was aware of it, but understood that he could and should use it to others’ advantage. He made it his mission to find the everyman and eat where he ate, while getting to know him better and ask about his life and how he saw the world. He was one of the few people who made it a point to intentionally go to Muslim communities with the purpose of tearing down stereotypes Americans kept. He knew that fear of the unknown was the most dangerous of all.

Bourdain lived to start conversations.

It’s darkly appropriate that as a final goodbye, Bourdain also started one last conversation. Will America ever take mental health seriously? I want to be positive and say maybe one day, but I’m also the pessimist in the room who vehemently and loudly argues otherwise, with a scowl etched across her face.

Like Bourdain, celebrated fashion designer Kate Spade passed the same week and the social media outreach contained the usual platitudes.

“Well, you know you can all talk to me! Just reach out!”

“Make sure you call a hotline!”

“If you only said something!”

It all regurgitates the same very dangerous and unhelpful trend of victim blaming that our culture has become disgustingly comfortable with. The blame is always shifted onto the victim instead of anywhere (not anyone) else. For years and years, it was focused on the rhetoric that demonized these people as selfish instead of clearly in need of help.

Mental health is a complicated, enigmatic concept. We’re told from the start that it’s okay to be vulnerable, to reach out for help or reassurance, but as soon as you do, you’re put down for being “weak” or “needy”.

Human beings need help sometimes. A lot of the time.

We struggle to accept that sometimes, horrible things happen. We’re quicker to cherry pick things that we think we can argue are more in our realm of control, like addictions or depression and anxiety. Any viral Facebook meme will tell you that the key to curing depression is a walk in the park and a baby corgi. Unfortunately it isn’t that simple nor easily wrapped up.

If someone tells you they have cancer, they are quicker to be supported and have people actively reach out to check on their well-being. If someone tells you they have depression, the reach out is a lot more sporadic, if at all, and sometimes met with a, “Well, I’m here if you need something.” We tend to look at things like depression as things we can control, so when people who supposedly “have it all” end their life, it is usually met with anger or confusion, whereas if they had cancer, it would have been nothing but sadness.

Bourdain was also proof that despite what we choose to believe, depression and addiction are not prejudiced. Mental illness doesn’t care if you are rich or poor, male or female, or where you are, it just grabs you. It just holds on like a demon on your back sinking its claws into your flesh. It just holds on.

The phrase that gets listlessly thrown around is, “We need to do better.” We need to stop saying it and just do it, because at this point, the phrase means nothing. We have to stop saying things and actively be better for our friends, family, and peers. And we have to do so much more than just obligatory check ins.

We live in a society where we refuse to allow people to be vulnerable. The gut reaction and answer when someone asks, “Hey, you doing okay?” is,“Yeah, I’m fine.” We’re not fine, though.

The only way to really support each other is by forming actual, meaningful relationships with the people around you. If we form these true connections with each other, we’ll find that we get actual, honest, bloody answers. The next time someone asks how we’re doing, we might actually respond with the phrase we so desperately want to use: “You know, not that great. Can we talk about it?”

It’s not enough anymore to be half-assed allies to each other in order to gain metaphorical gold stars and brownie points with each other. We’re losing each other and we have to make it stop. We have to shut down the stigma around mental illness, and we have to start doing it now.

In 2016, over 45,000 suicides occurred in the United States, was double the number of homicides that year. The number is significantly more staggering in rural states, such as North Dakota, where the number rose to 57 percent. Nevada, however, had record a decline of 1 percent.

Suicide is now the tenth leading cause of death overall in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“I think this gets back to what do we need to be teaching people — how to manage breakups, job stresses,” said Christine Moutier, medical director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in an interview with The Washington Post. “What are we doing as a nation to help people to manage these things? Because anybody can experience those stresses. Anybody.”

Moutier maintained that suicide can be addressed, if we can end the stigma around mental health. “If you think of [suicide] as other leading causes of death, like AIDS and cancer, with the public health approach, mortality rates decline,” Moutier said. “We know that same approach can work with suicide.”

With all that said, we may be at least on the right track. This past Sunday, New York and Virginia were the first two states to require mental health education in schools. Virginia’s law will require that mental health education be included in the ninth and tenth grade physical education and health curricula.

Virginia Senator Creigh Deeds is who we have to thank for sponsoring Virginia’s bill. He was inspired by listening to a presentation by Albemarle County high schoolers in 2017, and the death of his son, Gus Deeds. Gus died by suicide in 2013 after he was released by a hospital because there were no open psychiatric beds anywhere in the western part of the state.

“I was impressed by [the high schoolers’] thoughtfulness, because a lot of these young people had seen bullying. They had seen depression. They had seen classmates that had died by suicide,” Deeds said in an interview with CNN. “It’s part of tearing down the stigma and providing some equality with those that struggle with mental health.”

Deeds’ legislation is a good start, but it won’t be enough on its own. Talking about suicide and mental illness is difficult, but we can’t get past the stigma if we don’t. I don’t have all of the answers and I don’t know anyone who does, but what I do know is that we need to start doing better for ourselves, and for each other.

I Got Health Care For Christmas (And It Wasn’t A Pain)

R. Anthony Harris | January 14, 2014

Topics: health care, insurance, richmond

I was having dinner with a group of 30-somethings over the holiday break and Obamacare came up. I was surprised to find out that most of the people in the room didn’t have health insurance.
[Read more…] about I Got Health Care For Christmas (And It Wasn’t A Pain)

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