As the U.S. prepares to welcome a new presidential administration, leaders from business, public health, and community organizations gathered in Atlanta last week to reaffirm their dedication to ending the HIV epidemic and improving access to prevention and care.
“Because of years of research and scientific advancements, we now have the tools to prevent and treat HIV and keep people living healthy and long lives,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “Now is not the time to retreat on our commitment to protecting the health of our nation. President Trump initiated the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative in his first term, which was sustained by President Biden and his administration. Now we look forward to that same commitment from President Trump as he and his new administration seek to make our country healthier, bolster prevention, and address chronic diseases.”
“We continue to uncover private insurers that engage in discriminatory plan design by using drug formularies that discourage enrollment of people living with HIV. Putting every HIV drug, including cheap generics, on the highest cost-sharing tier and not covering drugs necessary to treat HIV are blatant examples of discrimination,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “Without proper regulation and enforcement, some insurers will try to get away with whatever they can. We call on the state insurance regulators to act quickly on these complaints and immediately ensure these insurers come into compliance.”
The American people have spoken and elected Donald Trump and JD Vance as our next President and Vice President. The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute will work with the new administration on furthering efforts to end HIV and hepatitis in the United States. With proper leadership, policies, and funding, we can end both these infectious diseases.
With low uptake of PrEP among the communities most impacted by HIV, this insurance coverage requirement with zero cost-sharing will help jumpstart the use of more effective forms of PrEP and lead to fewer HIV transmissions. We are grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for responding to our request to issue this guidance. Without it, we feel some insurers would continue to only cover daily oral PrEP, and not provide PrEP users with the choice they need. With up to a third of privately insured PrEP users still being charged cost-sharing, we must ensure that both federal and state regulators vigorously enforce PrEP coverage requirements.