Bug Chasers for HASA

I know, right, then he brought his mama in, and now she drives a Cadillac!

I hope this isn't true - but I did hear of HIV+ guys years ago who lived off of disability and didn't work because of HIV. That was years ago - not sure how true this is today.

Sounds like a bad rumor OP - not sure how a program would let you live really well for free the rest of your life without somebody whistle blowing.

Literal "welfare queens"?

Actually I don't begrudge anyone on assistance . Its a rough life and usually accompanied with mental illness(whether they know it or not). Most new cases of HIV ,I doubt, are that disabling. Many of the early diagnosed suffer all kinds of debilitating conditions that may preclude working.

Troll thread. HASA is a New York State/City program, so Trump has no say concerning it.

Is HIV considered a disability? All the drug ads I see have poz guys climbing mountains and dancing their asses off.

R5 ..and SWOLE

Playbook #4: Talk about instances of people getting something "free" that hardworking white Americans have to pay for. Bonus if recipients are in a minority group. Bonus if something is a luxury item.

Reminders: Work your way into the community. Share common ground. Introduce some level of sympathy. Be polite and reasonable, but act indignant when challenged.

Thank you for bravery in approaching the subject, OP.

So many people have been caught scamming the system. It's time for a dialogue! Just take a look at this couple!

This is exactly why America declines.

I hope Trump will stop this program if what you said is true

Miss OP, please share the links or other sources of where you keep "hearing" of these nefarious goings-on.

[quote] Miss OP, please share the links or other sources of where you keep "hearing" of these nefarious goings-on.

Facts never matter to OP. You can spot his threads from space. It's odd that he chooses DL for his work. A Fox message board is a better fit.

Anyway, back to the plight of scamming the government he bravely approached. From NY to AL, check out this crew.

R7 is spot on. This is a right-wing troll thread.

2300 luxury loft! Free food and medical! Bet he has a huge latin cock, too! The life! What are you waiting for? He's on easy street. The gravy train.

3,500!!!!!

[quote]It's odd that he chooses DL for his work.

They have to get the gays onboard.

It's been clear since that flabby British Breitbart Blob invaded here, and supported by what the Mercer woman said to the pink-haired guy.

[quote]2300 luxury loft! Free food and medical! Bet he has a huge latin cock, too! The life! What are you waiting for? He's on easy street. The gravy train.

And don't forget all of those "black bucks" and "welfare queens" scamming the system!!!

Can we please get some smarter trolls? Pound for pound, we have some of the dumbest trolls on the Internet.

dump and hateful.

What the hell kind of freaky thread is this. OP statement is so....foreign.

Why is it that nobody ever tries to interview Ms. Mercer? Does the united states do journalism anymore?

Pagine Leslie Stahl

OP, provide verifiable facts and news articles. If you can’t, then shut the fuck up.

Here are the rental housing guidelines for HASA:

Efficiency or studio apartment: Up to $1,514 One bedroom apartment: Up to $1,558 Two bedroom apartment: Up to $1,789 Three bedroom apartment: Up to $2,280

If you are single, you will qualify for the studio apartment. If you are single, they will not pay for any apartment that is more than $1514/month.

If you get SSI/SSDI they will take 30% of your disability check to pay the rent and then they will cover the rest UP TO $1514/month.

We know OP is a troll.

My understanding of HASA is that is provides case management services. It doesn't directly fund benefits, but rather provides gets you the benefits you qualify for and need. HASA isn't giving you free medical it is helping you apply for and get Medicaid.

Suggestions for OP's red tag?

From what I understand, you must have a below normal T-Cell count and have AIDS, not just HIV, before you get all of the benefits of these programs in New York and California.

In California, Medicare will provide you with meds and treatment if you have HIV, but that doesn’t qualify you as disabled, unless you have AIDS due to HIV, or another disability that may or may not be HIV related.

I know many POZ guys in LA, and most of them are working full time and support themselves.

Being HIV poz does not render one disabled all on its own.

This is a sad, but true, situation in the NYC tri-state area. It's a nuanced discussion worth having. The current climate of Datalounge is not the place for this, unfortunately. For anyone who's interested there are several articles from NYTimes and other outlets which explore the issue of seroconversion in the face of poverty. I'm not the OP or a Trump supporter, but here's an account that is worth reading. There's also a link to the entire article for more.

Fortner was 22 and homeless when he started feeling weak, with crushing stomach pain and terrible headaches. A sex worker from the age of 16, sometimes too high on crack to remember to use protection, he had been putting off the inevitable for weeks before he finally decided to get tested for HIV. The result came back positive.

“My whole world changed,” Fortner says, recalling the moment six years ago when he received his diagnosis. At first it changed for the worse as he struggled to come to terms with his diagnosis.

But then, it changed for the better.

After years of homelessness and a day-to-day existence, Fortner, now 28, was faced with the tantalizing prospect of a place to sleep, regular meals, and more thorough New York City services provided to people who reach a certain stage of the disease. First he would have to meet their diagnosis requirements; then he would receive help.

“I didn’t know about the services,” he says. “I didn’t know that once you have AIDS you’re entitled to all this other stuff.”

That silver lining was a surprise to Fortner. And while it might seem counterintuitive, contracting the virus has made life easier for other young homeless men in New York City, who in return for developing full-blown AIDS gain a roof over their heads and basic services.

This cruel paradox — having to get really sick in order to enjoy a better, more comfortable life — has not gone unnoticed. “I have experienced people [who are] grateful that they have HIV,” says Sage Rivera, a research associate at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention who has worked with hundreds of LGBT youth. “It’s sort of like a sigh of relief or an extra boost,” he says. “There are a whole bunch of different names for HIV within the [LGBT] community: ‘the monster,’ ‘the kitty,’ ‘the scratch,’ ‘the gift that keeps on giving.’ So people say, ‘I have the kitty — so now I can get my place. Now I can get hooked up; I can get my food stamps, I can get this, I can get that.’

“Other people say, ‘I do not know what I would have done without the monster.’ I can think of five boys, automatically, who’ve told me this.”

And it’s not just those who already have AIDS who view it as a lifeline; some young men who test negative aspire to contract the disease as a way out of trouble. Rivera knows at least one man who planned to have unprotected sex on purpose, an attitude he sums up thus: “My life is not getting better. I need a helping hand, and it seems like the only way I can get a helping hand is by getting sick.”

For Fortner, the phenomenon of young men deliberately contracting HIV is dispiriting but not surprising. “When you’re on the streets every day — winter, summer, spring, and fall — and you find a way to have an apartment of your own, it looks better,” he says. His own experience is instructive: Once his AIDS was diagnosed, he was astonished at how much easier it was to live in New York City. “Right now the rent for my apartment is $1,150, but because I’m on the program I only pay $217, which leaves me with about $400 a month,” he says. “That’s still a struggle, but I feel gifted, because one way or another I pull through.”

r24, something like: "Anti-poors anecdote troll"

division troll 5513

R25 - Even in California you have to have a qualifying disability to receive Medicare if you are under 65. Meaning you have to qualify for Social Security Disability Insurance. You can't draw any comparisons between HIV+ men with full time jobs supporting themselves and HIV+ teenagers living on the street.

R26 - I'm not sure you or the CDC employee have established that LGBT youth who seem happy about their becoming HIV+ and in some cases actually intentionally tried to become HIV+ are telling the truth. Teenagers are irresponsible and often lie. Anyone who works with teens will confirm this. Classic example is a clinic that dispensed Truvada to teenage boys who were sexually active and not consistently practicing safe sex. Guess what - it was just as difficult to get them to take there Truvada pills as getting them to use a condom.

I don't think the problem is teenagers "bug chasing" is the problem but rather a symptom of a larger problem. Why are there so many at risk youth living on the street? Why can't we figure out a way to solve this problem?

HASA requires an AIDS diagnosis. HIV+ is not sufficient.

[quote]Suggestions for OP's red tag?

Transparently stupid troll of the week

Which may be saying a lot given whats here this weekend.

Why you think this is a troll? DL has several dozen active members who daily post sex negative fear of STIs gays are sinful STI riddled immoral grifting pigs posts

I don't know, r32, why I?

The biggest welfare scammers are Russians and the Hasids. But carry on....

Link, please, r34.

This "I heard" troll is back with some new friends. I hope his Venezuelan friend is ok.

Brazil subsides all HIV medication for free and also you can apply for social benefits for life. I've heard similar trends around the country of people trying to fix an income for life on that in the past, but it was substituted by people faking schizophrenia to get similar benefits.

R30 - from the HASA website.

[quote] All NYC residents with HIV or AIDS who meet financial need requirements are eligible.

I've known some guys who have managed to pull off disability with HIV but have no trouble working out and going to bars, etc. But I would imagine that with the meds these days it's not so easy. I also know people on it for "anxiety" when they can ride motorcycles no problem, and fibro cases too. So there's plenty of fraud to go around-- not just HIV folks.

As far as the homeless guys, well if getting AIDS got me off the streets, I would consider it too.

If you try and get long term disability from a private carrier for HIV (not AIDS) you will most likely not succeed. I do medical file reviews for private disability carriers and they are hardcore - they will follow you around for a day, videotape you playing tennis, meeting friends for brunch, shopping...everything. Most infectious disease docs won't even fill out disability paperwork for HIV.