HIV+Hep in the News

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Anti-LGBTQ2S+ judge rules that U.S. companies should not have to provide employees with PrEP

by | Sep 12, 2022

“We are not surprised by Judge O’Connor’s decision,” Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, told Xtra in a written statement. “He has a long history of issuing rulings against the Affordable Care Act and LGBTQ2s+ individuals, and we expect the case to be successfully appealed as has been the case with his previous discriminatory decisions. We as a nation must do all we can to prevent HIV, no matter whom it may impact.”

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Sens. Merkley, Smith, colleagues sound alarm on unlawful charges for PrEP patients

by | Sep 9, 2022

“We appreciate Senators Merkley and Smith’s leadership and all their colleagues desire to ensure that the preventative service provisions of the Affordable Care Act are properly implemented. Private insurers must provide PrEP drugs and associated services without patient cost-sharing. We are receiving too many complaints from PrEP users that this is not always happening. We trust with this letter insurers will ensure full compliance,” said Carl Schmid, Executive Director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute.

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Patient groups sue U.S. Health Department over co-pay rules

by | Sep 9, 2022

“This practice is not only illegal but increases the cost of prescription drugs for millions of patients nationwide,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, in the press statement. “Nearly one in four Americans taking prescription drugs struggles to afford them. The growing practice of insurers and PBMs [pharmacy benefit managers] not counting co-pay assistance is one reason why. We trust the court will side with us—and invalidate the ability to implement these punitive practices that impact people with HIV, hepatitis and so many other health conditions that are treated with prescription drugs.”

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Tackling cancer while battling the insurance system

by | Sep 9, 2022

I began hearing similar horror stories from patient advocates, such as Carl Schmid, the executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “To me, co-pay accumulators very much seem like extortion,” Schmid told me. “And they lead to a decrease in adherence since people can no longer afford their drugs.” “What’s more,” he said–and this is something I hadn’t realized–“the out-of-pocket obligations patients must pay to meet their deductible and any coinsurance are based on the drug’s undiscounted, pre-rebate list price, not the pharmacy’s actual negotiated price.”

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