|
|
AIDS Law Project documentary now online
The first documentary about the
AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, produced by Anisha Payne and
Ashley Akunna, is now available for viewing on the Web. The 7½
minute film was first featured at our DECADES event in 2008,
where it was praised by AIDS Law Project friend and supporter
(and Academy Award-winning director) Jonathan Demme.
Go to the AIDS Law Project's channel on
Vimeo
Please "like" and comment often, and tell your friends.
Our Movie
Party was a great success! Thanks for your support!
We are thankful for the continued
generosity of
Digitas Health (www.digitashealth.com)
and Jay Schwartz of Secret Cinema (www.thesecretcinema.com)
for making this event possible. Madame X was an
official screening of Philadelphia Q Fest, the largest LGBT film
festival on the East Coast (www.qfest.com).
Special thanks goes to Richard Barrios for introducing our
feature presentation.
Here are some photos from our most recent
Movie Party!
Click Here for more photos from the event! |
|
|
|
Paralegal
Position Available
Click here for more information
TIAA-CREF v. Bernardo
Update
The AIDS Law Project of
Pennsylvania announces a victory in a case involving TIAA-CREF,
a financial services company, which had awarded a deceased gay
man’s retirement benefits to his ex-wife rather than his
longtime partner who was named as his beneficiary.
On May 27,
2010, in connection with that victory, the parties agreed to
settle the surviving partner’s claims against TIAA-CREF in
consideration for payment of an undisclosed amount in attorneys’
fees.
This January,
U.S. District Judge Stewart R. Dalzell ruled in favor of Mr.
Thomas Bernardo, Dr. John L. Turner’s life partner of more than
27 years. Dr. Turner, who died in March 2008, was one of the
first physicians—and among the few openly-gay physicians—to come
forward to treat HIV in the earliest years of the epidemic.
Judge Dalzell decided that Mr. Bernardo was the lawful
beneficiary of all of Dr. Turner’s annuity contracts, and was
therefore entitled to the full amount of money in dispute.
For more information, read our
press release
or
Judge Dalzell's opinion.
Now Available!
The AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania's
HIV/AIDS Public Benefits Advocacy Manual
2010 Edition
The AIDS
Law Project offers a detailed, comprehensive and easy-to-use manual on
eligibility for public benefits in Pennsylvania. Each chapter
provides detailed descriptions, flow charts, advocacy tips and examples
for advocates to ensure prompt approval of public benefit applications.
Topics
include:
Social Security benefits - General
Assistance - TANF
Medical Assistance - Health Horizons - Healthy Beginnings
"Spend Down" - Medicaid AIDS Waiver - Medicare
Food Stamps - Special Pharmaceutical Benefits (SPBP)
Immigrant eligibility - Criminal record eligibility issues
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Update: Quality Assurance Reports
for 2009 Completed
To assess
the quality of our work, every year we review our benefits and
housing cases closed between July 1st and September 30th by
reviewing the closed files of people who contacted the AIDS Law
Project of Pennsylvania for help. We found that of those needing
legal assistance with public or private benefits, we assisted
92% of them through a combination of direct representation,
legal advice and referrals. Of housing cases, the number is 88%.
For the Benefits
report, Click HERE.
For the Housing report, Click HERE.
How
We "Make a Difference"
So far in 2010, we:
-
Convinced Medicaid
to reverse their refusal to pay for a client’s liver
transplant, effectively saving his life. Our attorney was
able to show that the client, despite his HIV, was a
suitable candidate under existing Medicare regulations.
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Congratulations...
Congratulations to
Asha Ramachandran, Esq.,
our Public Benefits Attorney and to
Sarah R. Schalman-Bergen, Esq.,
of counsel
for selection as a "Pennsylvania Rising Star." Asha is
recognized for her work in the field of Social Security
Disability, and Sarah for her plaintiff-side employment
litigation practice. Asha and Sarah are listed in the 2010
Pennsylvania Super Lawyers magazine, which recognizes the
top attorneys in the Commonwealth.
Sarah was also awarded an “Unsung Hero” award by The
Legal Intelligencer, Pennsylvania’s legal newspaper. The
awards, announced on May 25, go to “attorneys across
Pennsylvania who dedicate themselves to helping their
communities through pro bono service, but [who] do not get
the thanks and recognition they deserve,” the newspaper
wrote. Sarah won for her work on the
Bernardo case, in which a financial-services
company awarded a deceased gay man’s retirement benefits to
his ex-wife, rather than his longtime partner who was named
as his beneficiary.
The case is described in
more detail in our press release, available by
Clicking
HERE.
...
to Ronda B. Goldfein, Esq.,
our Executive Director, on her recent appointment to the City Of
Philadelphia’s Police Advisory Commission! Ronda was appointed
to the Commission by Mayor Michael Nutter.
The Police Advisory Commission
is the official civilian oversight agency for the Philadelphia
Police Department. Its mission is to improve the relationship
between the police department and the community. For a news
story on her appointment,
Click HERE.
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
About The AIDS Law Project
of
Pennsylvania
People with HIV and AIDS may need a lawyer as much as a doctor.
All too often, society's bigotry, bureaucracy and ignorance
cause serious legal problems for people with HIV/AIDS. But most
people with HIV/AIDS can't afford a lawyer. For more than 20
years, the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania has been fighting
for the rights of Pennsylvanians living with HIV/AIDS.
|
We
provide legal assistance with the following issues:
-
AIDS discrimination
-
Access to healthcare
-
HIV confidentiality
and privacy
-
Wills, living wills, power of attorney
-
Public
benefits, including Social Security disability,
Medicaid, Medicare, cash welfare, and food stamps
-
Insurance coverage
-
Housing
-
Debt
-
Immigration
We also provide home
and hospital visits. |
Founded
in 1988, the AIDS Law Project of
Pennsylvania is a non-profit,
public interest law firm providing free legal assistance
to people with HIV/AIDS and those affected by the
epidemic. From its home office in
Philadelphia, the AIDS Law
Project also educates the public about AIDS-related
legal issues and works at local, state and national
levels to achieve fair laws and policies. |
This
website is lovingly dedicated
to the memory of
AIDS Law Project Board Members
Bruce
Flannery, Michael Greenberg, Jonathan Lax,
Alan Morrison and
James Thompson,
Intake Advocate Arnold Jackson
and VISTA
Volunteers Gary Bailey and David
Bertugli.
|
|
AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania
1211 Chestnut Street, Suite 600 •
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Phone:
(215) 587-9377 • Fax: (215)
587-9902
Intake Hours: 9:30
am-1:00 pm
Se Habla Español
Contact
Us
|
|
|
|
