Local
AIDS groups coping as contractor stops paying Medicaid claims
Mayor taking steps to restore payments for patients
‘In light of the financial problems of Chartered, I will be taking steps to protect the District’s health care provider network,’ said Mayor Vincent Gray in a statement. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Whitman-Walker Health and several other D.C. health care organizations say they are continuing to provide services to Medicaid clients with HIV/AIDS following the announcement in April that a city contractor had stopped paying Medicaid claims.
Whitman-Walker and several other local providers serving HIV/AIDS patients told the Blade they have so far managed to get by without getting paid for patients on Medicaid following the financial collapse of a city contractor that has operated D.C.’s Medicaid program.
A Washington Post story on Sunday reported that many small health care providers, including doctors’ offices and small clinics serving low-income clients, were struggling to keep their doors open since the Medicaid payments stopped last month.
The Medicaid problem began earlier this year when Chartered Health Plan, the company that arranged for Medicaid payments to doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers entered into voluntary receivership after encountering severe financial problems.
Under its contract with the city, Chartered managed Medicaid related issues for more than 100,000 low-income D.C. residents, according to a statement released in April by the D.C. Department of Health Care Finance.
The Post reported that Chartered Health Plan, once a multimillion dollar company, faced near financial collapse this year as an apparent result of revelations in late 2010 that its owner, Jeffrey E. Thompson, allegedly financed a “shadow campaign” in support of Vincent Gray’s 2010 mayoral election.
The United States Attorney’s office continues to investigate issues surrounding the campaign, which the city’s Office of Campaign Finance has said violated the city’s campaign finance law. Gray has said he had no knowledge of the so-called shadow campaign and has cooperated with investigators looking into the matter.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Chip Lewis said Chartered owes Whitman-Walker just over $40,000 in back Medicaid payments for patient services.
“Whitman-Walker Health is absorbing the delay in payments from Chartered Health Plan within our current operations,” Lewis told the Blade. “Going forward, we do not anticipate this outstanding balance will create a major financial burden as it is a relatively small amount of funds compared to our monthly operating budget of $2.2 million.”
Ron Simmons, executive director of Us Helping Us, and Lloyd Buckner, executive director of MetroHealth, formerly known as the Carl Vogel Center, said the city’s Medicaid payment delays haven’t adversely impacted their respective organizations at this time.
Both organizations provide services for people with HIV/AIDS and both accept patients on Medicaid, the two said.
Michael Weinstein, director of the Los Angeles-based AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which operates an AIDS clinic and pharmacy in D.C., said, “Medicaid is not a big funder to our clinic” and the interruption of Medicaid payments in D.C. “is not significant to us.”
An official with La Clinica del Pueblo, a D.C. clinic that provides AIDS-related medical services for the Latino community, couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“In light of the financial problems of Chartered, I will be taking steps to protect the District’s health care provider network that has taken years for us to develop,” Mayor Gray said in a statement in April.
“My primary goal is to protect the stability of the community-based providers that will be at risk of closing their doors and turning away patients if there is a significant delay in being paid,” Gray said.
Gray said that he directed his Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services, BB Otero, and the Department of Health Care Finance to develop a plan to provide relief for providers hit the hardest by the Medicaid payment cutoff.
The Post reported that since the time of the mayor’s announcement last month the city has retained a new company, AmeriHealth Caritas of Philadelphia, to replace Chartered Health as the city’s lead contractor for Medicaid services.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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