Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, thanked Senate lawmakers for prioritizing the domestic response to HIV in a statement responding to their bipartisan vote Thursday (Aug. 1) to advance the bill. “However, given that the House version of the bill includes sizeable funding cuts, program eliminations, and divisive policy riders, we realize passage of this spending bill is far from reality. House Republicans must come to the table and support bills, such as this one, that can pass the Congress and be signed by the President,” Schmid said.
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The problem is that insurance companies are not accepting copay assistance toward a patient’s deductible due to a practice known as a copay accumulator, according to Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute. “So insurers are taking the money, but they’re not applying it to the person’s out-of-pocket costs and their deductible,” Schmid said. “And then the insurers make the patient pay for the costs.”
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A leading U.S. HIV patient advocate applauded the trial results. “This is the future of PrEP and treatment,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute to Inside Health Policy. “And will help with adherence and closing racial and ethnic disparities.”
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Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said the lack of investment in labs and provider visits inhibited the program. “You need the outreach, you need the lab, you need the providers,” Schmid told Inside Health Policy. “You need a comprehensive program.” Schmid noted that creating a replacement national program will be difficult.
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One reason for the program’s low uptake, those advocates said, is that it only covered the costly PrEP medication but not the doctor visits or blood work necessary for a prescription. It also did not include funding for outreach or education about the drug. “It just proves that it’s not just the price of the drug, it’s all the other services that go with PrEP,” Carl Schmid, president of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, said. “You need a doctor to provide the drug, you need the labs — that was the failure.”