Legal Services
Who Are We?
Two attorneys staff the Legal Services team at AIDS Action Committee. They provide advocacy and assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS as well as technical assistance to their social service and health care providers.
What Can We Do For You?
Legal Services assists individuals with various HIV-related financial and legal services such as obtaining disability income benefits and securing access to health care through medical insurance and prescription coverage. This includes Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI), MassHealth, HIV Drug Assistance Program (HDAP), and more. Legal Services also helps with back-to-work issues, such as how work would affect your disability benefits and health insurance, debt and consumer protections, and workplace rights. Legal Services also oversees the Legal Task Force, which is a group of volunteer lawyers who can provide free legal assistance if your annual income is less than $35,000, and you need a will, power of attorney, or health care proxy.
Who Do We Serve?
Legal Services provides direct services to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Greater Boston area as well as those whose lives are impacted by HIV/AIDS. Last year, we provided assistance to almost 700 individuals.
How Can You Contact Us?
If you need HIV-related legal assistance, you can email us at legalservices@aac.org. You may also call the Legal Services Intake line at 617.450.1317, leave a message and someone will call you back within a few days. If you have a brief legal question, you may want to schedule a 20 minute appointment for our Legal Clinic, which is offered every Wednesday from 10:00 am to 12:00 noon in our office. To schedule an appointment for the Legal Clinic, please call 617.450.1250 and press “0” to reach the Client Services front desk, or you may call the Legal Intake Line. It is important that you schedule an appointment for the Legal Clinic because we are generally unable to see people that day without an appointment.
Legal Services Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Disclaimer: Below you will find a list of frequently asked questions that we get in Legal Services. If you want a direct, confidential answer, please email the Legal Services staff. As answers become available they will appear as active links to downloadable PDFs.
- I’m not feeling well enough to continue working and wonder if I’m eligible for Social Security disability benefits.
- If I leave work, what will I do about health insurance and how will I pay for my medications?
- I’m feeling better and would like to try going back to work. How will this affect my Social Security benefits?
- How will going back to work affect my Medicare and/or MassHealth?
- I went back to work without telling the Social Security Administration (SSA). Now, I received a notice from SSA telling me that I have an overpayment. What does this mean?
- What is the Medicare prescription drug benefit, Part D? Am I eligible? Are there changes for 2007?
- I am the beneficiary of a will and am going to receive some money. How will this affect my Social Security disability benefits and health insurance?
- I work at a job without health insurance and was recently diagnosed with HIV. How will I pay for my medications?
- Since I’ve been on Social Security benefits, I have been unable to make the minimum payments on my credit cards. Now, the collection companies are calling me all the time. What are my options?
- I have an old student loan that I have not been paying. What will happen if the company tries to collect it?
- I would like to see if I could sell my life insurance policy. How do I do that?
- If anything happens to me, I would like to leave my belongings to my partner. How do I do this?
- What are my rights as an HIV+ employee?
- In my job, how do I request a reasonable accommodation? Also, what is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)?
- I am worried about my family having to pay for my funeral expenses. Is there any financial assistance available for this?
- I heard that Social Security Administration has implemented a new disability determination process because of the growing number and complexity of claims. How will these changes affect my claim?
- Can utilities companies turn off or leave off my utilities service even if I am seriously ill and cannot pay the bill?
- I'm HIV positive, but can i still purchase life insurance?
