MENINGITIS OUTBREAK: Join Robert’s plea to President Obama to expand vaccine access

BY ROBERT WILLIAMS | Hopefully by now you know we are in the midst of a deadly Meningitis outbreak in Los Angeles and public health officials are urging every gay and bisexual men, especially those with HIV, to get meningitis vaccinations.

I knew about the outbreak and I also knew someone who several years ago was foaming at the mouth at Equinox Sunset Plaza and few hours later died of Meningitis, so I decided to hightail it to my doctor’s office to get the vaccine.

My HIV specialist and infectious disease doctor doesn’t stock the vaccine in his office.

Instead he writes a script and the vaccine is to be administered by a pharmacist.

My top-dollar UnitedHealthcare insurance plan completely excludes the vaccine if dispensed by a pharmacist.

My doctor wants me to get the vaccine and then a second booster shot 8 weeks later at a total out of pocket cost of close to $400.

This got me thinking.

What kind of public health policy restricts access to a vaccine for a deadly, extremely contagious disease in the midst of an outbreak to a high-risk person with a compromised immune system?

Without a vaccine and if infected, I could be like a Meningitis torpedo contagion, spraying my sick all over the chest press at Equinox Sunset Plaza and risking the lives of some of the most beautiful people in Los Angeles. Fabio and Taye Diggs work out there and losing either of them would be a national tragedy and I would feel responsible.

But seriously, anyone working or playing or socializing in close quarters with other people has a responsibility to get vaccinated against this easily transmitted disease.

Meningitis would be bad and definitely not a cute way to go.

I definitely need this vaccine but I grew so frustrated by the obstacles in getting it.

It makes no sense my expensive health plan won’t cover the vaccine.

What makes even less sense is The Affordable Care Act requires insurance companies to cover preventive services like vaccines, yet it is not covered. Insurance companies have found a nice little loop hole by only covering the vaccines if stocked by the doctor’s office while most are no longer stocking many injectables.

I could have paid the $400 but as my deductible is $5000 per year on top of my monthly premium, it’s unaffordable for the average person.

So I decided to go to AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which provides health care regardless of the ability to pay, and after a 3 hour long wait (it sounds worse than it was as I used their free wifi to watch Transparent on my iPhone), I was able to get the shot at no charge. The demand is huge.

In 8 weeks, I’ll go back for my booster shot.

While waiting, I wondered about the people being turned away after all 30 of the first-come, first serve appointments for the evening were taken.

Did they have an expensive health plan like me or were they needing basic care? Had they run into the same obstacles?

What is with this system? A doctor’s office should be able to provide basic vaccination care and it should be fully covered under the Affordable Care Act. No patient should have to do research to find out how or whether they can get treated.

When an emergency is declared for which there is a solution it only makes good public health sense that there should also be no obstacle to life-saving measures.

Join Robert’s petition to President Obama seeking an expansion of the Affordable Care Act that would cover vaccines given by a primary care physician and thereby allow more people to be vaccinated against Invasive Meningococcal Disease.