“We thank the leadership of Sen. Smith, Rep. Schiff, and their 53 colleagues in re-introducing the PrEP Access and Coverage Act,” commented Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “Passage of these bills will greatly expand access to PrEP for people who have health coverage across all payers and create a national PrEP program that includes community and provider outreach as well as PrEP drugs and associated services for the uninsured. We must address head on the wide disparities in PrEP use and these bills do that.”
25 HIV and Hepatitis organizations file amicus brief to protect preventive services coverage
The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute and 24 other HIV and hepatitis organizations filed an amicus brief in support of the U.S. government in Braidwood Management v. Becerra, the challenge to the ACA’s preventive services coverage requirement, arguing, “A wholesale invalidation of the coverage requirement for USPSTF’s recommendations would strike a critical, unnecessary, and costly blow to the battle to end HIV, hepatitis, and other infectious diseases.”
Patient groups reply to government’s brief in landmark lawsuit challenging copay accumulators
The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, Diabetes Leadership Council, Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, and three patients filed their reply in support of their motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in their ongoing lawsuit against copay accumulators. The suit challenges HHS’s 2021 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters rule, which permits insurance plans to refuse to credit copay assistance from drug manufacturers toward beneficiaries’ deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums.
U.S. government must quickly act to stop Texas court decision on preventive services and PrEP
While not surprised by Judge O’Connor’s decision, which will immediately impact coverage of HIV testing, hepatitis B and C testing, along with PrEP, it is imperative that these critical preventive services must continue for the health of our nation. We expect that the U.S. government will quickly act to stay this decision so that preventive services can continue nationwide, and appeal it.
Amicus briefs filed in suit to end policy that prohibits copay assistance from counting toward patients’ out-of-pocket spending
Yesterday, 29 patient, provider, and consumer organizations representing a wide range of illnesses and health conditions filed an amicus brief in support of a case brought against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, the Diabetes Leadership Council, the Diabetes Patient Advocacy Coalition, and three patients. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the lawsuit challenges the federal 2021 Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters rule, which allows health insurers to avoid counting the value of drug manufacturer copay assistance toward patients’ out-of-pocket cost obligations. Plaintiffs recently filed a motion for summary judgment, asserting that the rule violates cost-sharing requirements mandated by the Affordable Care Act and is also arbitrary and capricious.