HIV+Hep in the News

The federal government issued guidance Monday stating that almost all health insurers must cover HIV prevention drugs — such as Gilead’s Truvada and Descovy — with no cost-sharing, as well as associated lab testing and follow-up visits. Insurers were already required to quit charging out-of-pocket fees for the drugs, called HIV Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), by January of this year. But now insurers have 60 days to comply with the additional requirements, including no-cost services like baseline and follow-up testing, as well as monitoring, according to the guidance.

The Biden administration is directing insurance companies to offer PrEP without copays or deductibles. PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, refers to two antiviral medications — under the brand names of Truvada, which was approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration in 2012, and Descovy, which was approved in 2019 — that are taken by HIV-negative people to prevent HIV infection.