In a press release, the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, Carl Schmid, said, “Instead of providing new investments in ending HIV by increasing funding for testing, prevention programs, such as PrEP, and life-saving care and treatment, House Republicans are again choosing to go through a worthless exercise of cutting programs that the American people depend on and will never pass.”
“While we vigorously fight these cuts, we look forward to working with the entire Congress in a bipartisan fashion on spending bills that can actually become law,” Carl Schmid said in a statement. He noted that the bill also includes provisions known as “policy riders” that would take away rights and protections from women, such as access to birth control and abortion, and for minorities, including LGBTQ people.
The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, a national non-profit organization, criticized House Republicans for attempting to slash funding for the EHE initiative. This initiative, created by the Trump administration and continued by President Joe Biden, focuses on promoting prevention and treatment–including PrEP–in the 57 U.S. jurisdictions with the highest concentration of HIV. “Instead of providing new investments in ending HIV by increasing funding for testing, prevention programs, such as PrEP, and life-saving care and treatment, House Republicans are again choosing to go through a worthless exercise of cutting programs that the American people depend on and will never pass,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a statement on Wednesday (June 26).
Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., a key player fighting for coverage and access to care for HIV and hepatitis, said, “Preventive services remain covered for now, but with this ruling, we know there are threats on the horizon.” The appeals court sent back to a lower court for further scrutiny the question of whether two federal health agencies, HRSA and ACIP, have the authority to mandate insurance coverage for immunizations, birth control, and other women’s preventive services.
“The bad news is, the court still finds the mandate to cover USPSTF recommended services unconstitutional and now asks the lower court to review both the [Health Resources and Services Administration] and [Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices] preventive services,” Carl Schmid continued. “The case is not going to the Supreme Court at this time but back to the lower court. Coverage of preventive services continues.”