HIV+Hep in the News

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FTC-CVS Caremark reach deal to count TrumpRx payments toward OOP maximums with caveats

by | Jul 14, 2026

The requirement could serve as a nudge for legislators to pass a bill on Capitol Hill that would allow cash purchases of drugs through TrumpRx to count to consumers’ insurance spending obligations. It does nothing, however, to promote PBMs allowing other forms of copay assistance to count towards OOP spending obligations, including drug company copay assistance — which has been a key ask from key HIV patient advocates at the HIV+HEP Policy Institute for years since District of Columbia district court’s 2023 ruling permitting that copay assistance count from manufacturers towards out-of-pocket costs.

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Changes to Medicaid could have severe consequences for Americans with HIV

by | Jul 13, 2026

These comorbidities already make it difficult to manage the complexities of HIV treatment, said Carl Schmid, MBA, executive director of the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute. Coupled with the challenges of being low-income, Schmid anticipates some people with HIV won’t be able to navigate the additional administrative hurdles and lose their coverage. “It’s inhumane,” he said.

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Report projects high HIV rates, Medicare drug costs By 2036

by | Jul 9, 2026

“This data demonstrates that we are not making significant progress in reducing HIV in the United States and efforts to end HIV, unfortunately, remain stalled,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute wrote in a press release. “Without a jumpstart of resources and a renewed national commitment and leadership by public officials across the country, we are destined to continue to fall short in meeting our goals.”

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Will Medicaid’s new work requirements exempt people with HIV?

by | Jul 1, 2026

Carl Schmid, director of the HIV+HEP Policy Institute, which issued a press release criticizing the lack of an HIV exemption for the work requirements, says even if people living with HIV can work, which is often the case in the current age of highly effective, once-daily pill medications, they could face barriers like what O. worries about. “People’s income often jumps up and down, which could lead to them losing their insurance,” Schmid says.

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Mississippi insurer expands PrEP access amid ‘alternate lifestyles’ row

by | Jun 30, 2026

“The two daily oral PrEP drugs (Truvada and Descovy) have different side effect profiles and pill sizes, with Descovy offering advantages to those with kidney or bone density concerns or discomfort with larger pills,” Carl Schmid wrote. “Apretude, an injectable taken once every two months, offers advantages to the many individuals who are unable to adhere to daily oral PrEP, including people with mental illness, people engaged in substance use, or the unstably housed, or who have confidentiality concerns related to storage of an oral medication.” Schmid told the Bay Area Reporter June 22 that, “The good thing is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi, as soon as we filed our complaint, they did add both Descovy and Apretude to their formulary, so people would have access.”

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