The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s annual HIV Surveillance Report, published Tuesday, provides the first major bird’s-eye view of the turn the nation’s four-decade-old epidemic took after the coronavirus upended society. The report, which includes 2020 data, follows worrisome previous findings that found HIV testing plunged as stay-at-home orders swept the nation in March of that year.
“D.C. has really turned the corner on HIV, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. We still have a lot of work to do,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, which is based in the District. HIV cases have dropped dramatically in D.C. since their peak in 2007. But nearly 1 in 5 new infections occurred in people age 13 to 24, a new report from DC Health says. Many of those young people were not on medication that can help the virus from spreading to others.
The use of tracking systems — such as copay accumulators and copay maximizers — to scrutinize patients’ use of drug manufacturer copay assistance programs is causing controversy inside and outside of the federal government, as well as concerns among physicians and patients. Copay assistance programs are vitally important to patients with chronic illnesses, Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said in a phone interview. For example, “HIV drugs and hepatitis drugs are costly and usually on specialty [formulary] tiers … and more and more people are in high-deductible plans,” he said. “Anyone who relies on prescription drugs, particularly for chronic conditions, relies on copay assistance. It was $12 billion last year.”
The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS recently made recommendations to scale up preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) efforts. In a letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, the council urged the Biden administration to support the creation of a national PrEP program so all those who eligible for taking antiviral medications on a preventive basis have access to the medications and any associated services.
Insurers on Affordable Care Act exchanges will have to offer plans with standardized deductibles and limits on out-of-pocket costs and co-pays for each of non-standardized offerings, as well as meet stronger network adequacy requirements in 2023, under a new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services final rule issued Thursday.