The AIP BIPOC Network

06/03/2026

NORD and 47 other patient advocacy organizations have united to express concern about the Medicaid work requirement rule issued this week.

We strongly urge CMS to define medical frailty in a way that protects coverage and continuity of care for patients with complex and rare diseases.

Read the joint statement: https://rarediseases.org/nord-joins-coalition-of-48-patient-advocacy-organizations-expressing-concerns-over-coverage-loss-under-final-cms-medicaid-work-requirement/

06/03/2026

Join Dr. Jolene Brighten, Cynthia Adinig, Jamie Nicole, and Tracey Welson-Rossman for The Invisible Trigger: Why Menopause Resets the Rules for Autoimmune Health on June 10, 2026 at 1 PM EST.

Dr. Brighten has been helping women understand what often gets missed in conventional care: menopause is not “just hormones,” and autoimmune symptoms are not always separate from the hormonal shifts happening in midlife. In her work on menopause and autoimmune disease, she explains how perimenopause and menopause can intensify inflammation, change symptom patterns, worsen fatigue and brain fog, and make previously stable autoimmune conditions harder to manage.

This free live conversation brings that expertise into a real discussion with women who are living, researching, advocating, building, and translating what too many patients are experiencing alone.

Millions of women living with autoimmune conditions, Long COVID, ME/CFS, dysautonomia, MCAS, and chronic illness have watched their symptoms change during perimenopause and menopause. Flares become more intense. Medications may not work the same. New sensitivities appear. Brain fog worsens. Joint pain, fatigue, sleep disruption, mood changes, and inflammation can all become harder to separate.

Too often, women are told it’s “just stress,” “just aging,” or “just menopause.”

We know it’s more complicated than that.

This is not a cold institutional webinar. It is a practical, honest conversation about the autoimmune-menopause connection, what women should be tracking, what questions to bring into clinical visits, and why these changes deserve to be taken seriously.

Attendees will receive a downloadable Doctor’s Checklist, practical symptom recognition tools, guidance for care conversations, and a real discussion about the patterns too many women are navigating without enough support.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WboPeazYQFCLBn22vkXO-Q #/registration

05/26/2026

Kicking off day one at the NCOA Age+Action Conference.

Started the morning with the Hill Day Rally, and now we’re headed to Capitol Hill to talk about advocacy, aging, healthcare access, and benefits enrollment.

Really proud to be connected to the work happening through Bee Busy Wellness Center, one of the few Benefits Enrollment Centers in Houston, helping people navigate benefits and support services they may not even know they qualify for.

Ready for a full day of conversations and advocacy, about and for seniors and the disabled.

05/25/2026

Osteoarthritis is often called “wear and tear” arthritis — but there’s much more to the story.

In the latest episode of the Live Yes! With Arthritis podcast, experts break down what osteoarthritis really is, common symptoms and why early diagnosis matters.

🎧 Listen now: https://arthr.org/4nmvJdU.

05/21/2026

Join Cynthia Adinig, Jamie Nicole, Tracey Welson-Rossman, and Dr. Jolene Brighten for The Invisible Trigger: Why Menopause Resets the Rules for Autoimmune Health, June 10th, 2026 at 1pm EST.

Attend this free live conversation bridging chronic illness, hormones, advocacy, systems thinking, women’s health, and real-world patient experience.

Four women. Four different perspectives. One conversation women have needed for years.

Millions of women living with autoimmune conditions, Long COVID, ME/CFS, dysautonomia, MCAS, and chronic illness have watched their symptoms change during perimenopause and menopause. Flares become more intense, medications stop working the same, new sensitivities appear, brain fog worsens, and entire health patterns can shift seemingly overnight. Too often, women are told it’s “just stress,” “just aging,” or “just hormones.”

We know it’s more complicated than that.
This is not a cold institutional webinar. It’s a conversation between women who’ve spent years living, studying, building, advocating, researching, listening, and translating what women are experiencing right now.

Attendees will receive a downloadable Doctor’s Checklist, practical symptom recognition tools, guidance for care conversations, and a real discussion about the patterns too many women are navigating alone.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_WboPeazYQFCLBn22vkXO-Q #/registration

05/20/2026

Voting is a health issue.

Across the country, communities are making decisions that will impact healthcare access, disability protections, medication affordability, environmental safety, aging services, food access, transportation, and public health programs.

At The AIP BIPOC Network, we see every day how policy decisions affect people living with autoimmune disease, chronic illness, disabilities, and the seniors we serve through our community outreach and health navigation work.

That is one reason Powering Advocacy is part of our work. Advocacy, awareness, research, and civic engagement all play a role in improving health outcomes and ensuring communities are not left out of important conversations and decisions.

Advocacy does not start or end at the doctor’s office. It also includes using your voice and your vote.

As a national organization, we encourage communities to stay informed, know what is on the ballot in your area, verify your voter registration, and make a plan to vote.

Learn more:
www.aipbipoc.org/powering-advocacy

Check your voter registration and make a plan to vote:
www.vote.health/aipbipoc

05/19/2026

Today’s Functional Fitness + Benefits Enrollment Support session brought together clients, caregivers, caseworkers, and teams from Bee Busy Wellness Center, The AIP BIPOC Network, and Waymaker for conversations around movement, access, and support, plus a little line dancing too.

The session included functional and limited mobility fitness, along with education and one-on-one guidance related to Medicare, Medicaid, food assistance, prescription support, utilities, housing-related resources, and other available programs many people may not realize they qualify for.

Bee Busy Wellness Center is one of a few certified Benefits Enrollment Centers in Houston, helping connect individuals and families to trusted navigation and enrollment support.

Many people are already enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid, but may still qualify for additional benefits and services they may not know about.

Shout out to Waymaker for hosting today’s session and helping create space for these conversations and connections within the community.

Learn more or sign up for support here:
https://aipbipoc.org/medicare-and-medicaid-benefits-help

Learn more about Bee Busy Wellness Center:
https://mybbwc.org

Interested in hosting a functional fitness and benefits enrollment session for your organization or community group? Contact: [email protected]

05/17/2026

Experts say some of the biggest drivers in the drop of SNAP participants were changes made in the 940-page "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," also known as H.R. 1. For example, it mandated that certain adults who were previously exempt from work requirements are now subject to them.

There are two types of work requirements for eligibility. General rules apply to most people age 16-59, but able-bodied adults without dependents must follow stricter guidelines -- made even stricter by H.R. 1-- unless they qualify for an exemption. Participants can meet the more stringent requirements by working or participating in a work program for at least 80 hours a month. They do not need to be paid.

Previously, able-bodied adults older than 54 without dependents were exempt from the enhanced requirements. That age has been raised to 64. And the bill lowered the age of children whom a person is responsible for to qualify for an exemption from 18 to 14. Homeless people, veterans, and former foster children 24 or younger are no longer exempt either.

SNAP beneficiaries decreased by nearly 4.3 million from January 2025 to January 2026, according to preliminary government data released by the Agriculture Department.