Now’s your chance to get a free, virtual front-row seat to hear national HIV leaders discuss policies to end HIV and care for those living with the virus. The 71st meeting of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) will be livestreamed Tuesday and Wednesday, August 3 and 4, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. ET each day. During these sessions, PACHA members will hear from federal experts, including Harold Phillips, who is the new director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy (aka the nation’s AIDS czar); and Rachel Levine, MD, the assistant secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Insurers will now have to fully cover PrEP and its visits and labs—but advocates want the CDC to do more
On July 19, the federal government announced that all health insurers, public and private, must cover all patient costs related to PrEP, including clinic visits and labs. The ruling covers both the two very expensive branded versions of PrEP made by Gilead—Truvada (emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate) and Descovy (emtricitabine/tenofovir alafenamide)—and the vastly cheaper generic versions that have hit the market in recent months.
HIV prevention drug PrEP must be free under most insurance plans
The U.S. federal government recently announced that almost all health insurers must cover the HIV prevention pill preexposure prophylaxis, also known as PrEP, with no cost-sharing to patients for the drug itself or, crucially, for clinic visits and lab visits. The move is being hailed by HIV prevention advocates as transformative to the national HIV prevention effort.
CDC guidance: Insurers must cover HIV prevention treatment costs
Nearly all health insurers must cover the entire cost of HIV prevention treatments, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service and the Department of Labor and the Department of the Treasury, said in guidance issued this week.
Health insurance must cover all costs associated with PrEP, Biden administration orders
The Biden administration has ordered health insurers to cover all costs associated with pre-exposure prophylaxis, also known as PrEP. A once-daily pill, PrEP uses antiretroviral treatments for HIV to prevent an HIV-negative person from contracting the virus. It reduces the risk of transmission during sex by around 99%, according to the CDC. The Department of Labor order means that insured individuals accessing the drug — sold under the brand names Truvada and Descovy — will face no copays, deductibles, or additional costs associated with PrEP.