For years patients have seen manufacturer assistance diverted away from their deductibles and out‑of‑pocket maximums, increasing their costs and forcing impossible choices. We thank the subcommittee for urging CMS to act and call on the agency to promptly issue clear, enforceable guidance so patients actually receive the benefit of assistance meant for them.
We can’t imagine a country that is unable to conduct basic surveillance of a serious infectious disease, educate and test people, and link them to appropriate treatment or prevention, including PrEP. That is what would happen if the House Republican bill were to pass. Sadly, these proposals will just continue the instability in our nation’s HIV prevention programs, which are primarily conducted at the state and local levels. We urge Congress to reject them, as they did last year.
This data demonstrates that we are not making significant progress in reducing HIV in the United States and efforts to end HIV, unfortunately, remain stalled. Without a jumpstart of resources and a renewed national commitment and leadership by public officials across the country, we are destined to continue to fall short in meeting our goals.
Congress rejected these massive attacks on HIV prevention last year and we will urge them to do the same again this year. While we are reassured that over 600,000 low-income people currently accessing care and treatment through the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program and those using PrEP programs in community health centers can maintain their services, the dismantling of HIV prevention and surveillance and other programs will just lead to more HIV infections and higher health costs down the road.
After a tumultuous year of proposed program cuts and eliminations, Congress has agreed to reject them and instead has maintained funding for domestic HIV prevention and treatment programs on a bipartisan basis. Now, the Trump administration must focus its attention on properly implementing these programs in order to get the nation back on track to end HIV in the U.S.