The ruling eliminating preventive coverage without cost sharing for PrEP on religious grounds shows “clear bias,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. Some states have passed laws that will continue to require coverage of ACA-mandated preventive services even if the federal protections are eliminated. [This piece ran in 71 additional publications.]
In an interview with Bay Area Reporter, Card Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said “insurers need to get their act together.” Schmid, who worked with Campbell’s office to draft the letter to the CDC, noted that although the federal health agency has started the process to create a billing code, he hopes “the letter will add pressure on them to make sure it will happen. PrEP and its associated services are supposed to be free to people with insurance. We need to make sure that anyone who wants PrEP can get it easily,” Schmid said. “Unfortunately, implementation has not gone smoothly.… We are glad that the attorneys general, who are charged with reviewing for violations of the law, are on top of it.”
Carl Schmid told the B.A.R. that it’s going to be hard for Biden to get his proposals. The amount in last year’s final budget had to be scaled back from $850 million and “that was under a Democratic Congress,” Schmid said. Now, the House of Representatives is under Republican control. “I think it’s sufficient,” Schmid said about Biden’s proposal. “It’s a good start. It’s not enough because we need other things, including $6 million for AIDS housing at HUD,” he said, referring to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“President Biden’s budget is yet another demonstration of his leadership in ending HIV,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, in a press statement from that organization. “[Biden] recognizes the historic role the federal government must play and the investments needed to end infectious diseases, such as HIV and hepatitis C.”
Carl Schmid, a gay man who is the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, worked with Campbell’s office on drafting the letter. “Through their [the Massachusetts’ AG’s office] investigation and others, correct use of billing codes for PrEP has been identified as a barrier. There are several codes providers can use and insurers have not stepped up to solve this problem,” Schmid stated. “Having a standard billing code, as has been requested by the 22 attorneys general, should help alleviate these problems,” he added. “We understand that the CDC had already begun the process, but the letter will add pressure on them to make sure it will happen.”