It is unclear exactly how quickly insurers will need to comply with the update task force recommendation, Carl Schmid, executive director at HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute, told Axios. The move, however, should drive awareness of PrEP options and generate conversations between providers and patients, he said.
An amicus brief filed by the HIV and Hepatitis Policy Institute and several other organizations working to eliminate HIV and viral hepatitis argues that the USPSTF recommendations are an essential component of nationwide efforts to prevent infectious and chronic diseases. The organizations write that invalidating the ACA’s preventive services provision “would strike a critical, unnecessary, and costly blow to the battle to end HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases.”
“We sincerely thank Senate Labor HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Chair Tammy Baldwin and Ranking Member Shelley Moore Capito and their colleagues for demonstrating their continued commitment to ending HIV in the United States. While working within the confines of an extremely restrictive budget agreement, they still were able to craft a spending bill that prioritizes the domestic response to HIV,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a press release. “However, given that the House version of the bill includes sizable funding cuts, program eliminations and divisive policy riders, we realize passage of this spending bill is far from reality. House Republicans must come to the table and support bills, such as this one, that can pass the Congress and be signed by the president.”
“While we appreciate the sustained funding for many domestic HIV and hepatitis programs, we are devastated by the proposal to virtually eliminate the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative,” Carl Schmid, the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, stated in a release. “We were on a trajectory to end HIV by ensuring all people have access to care and treatment, and prevent new infections through increasing access to PrEP, but now all those efforts will be lost. This bill cannot stand as is,” he stated.
“Currently, Medicare beneficiaries are only guaranteed access to daily oral PrEP through Part D and face out-of-pocket costs, and long-acting injectable PrEP has not generally been covered,” Carl Schmid said. “As people are living longer and remain sexually active, it is important that anyone who has a reason to be on PrEP can access it.”