Expanding PrEP access now
In public comments to the President’s Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute suggests ways that the federal government can improve PrEP uptake: 1) having CMS ensure that private insurers comply with ACA $0 cost-sharing requirements, 2) having the CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention dedicate more funding for PrEP, and 3) having HRSA ensure that the community health centers PrEP program works effectively.
Comments on Medicare NCD for PrEP using antiretroviral therapy
With deep and widening racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in uptake, access to PrEP through Medicare is of paramount importance to making sure that Medicare beneficiaries are able to benefit from the widening array of PrEP options without cost-sharing. Medicare beneficiaries (including those dually eligible for Medicaid) comprise 10 percent of the population using PrEP, including both individuals over 65 as well as disabled individuals under 65. We thank CMS for making clear that all FDA-approved forms of PrEP would be available without cost-sharing. This means that Medicare beneficiaries will have unfettered access to future novel forms of PrEP immediately after FDA approval.
Letter to Mayor Bowser in support of DC’s Copay Accumulator Amendment Act of 2023
HIV+Hep strongly supports the “Copay Accumulator Amendment Act of 2021” (Bill 25-0141). It simply requires that the copay assistance beneficiaries receive counts towards their out-of-pocket obligation. By signing this law, DC will join 17 other states (Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, New Mexico, North Carolina, New York, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Virginia) and Puerto Rico in protecting consumers by assuring their copay assistance will count towards cost-sharing obligations.
Letter in support of Rhode Island Senate bill on copay assistance
We voice our strong support for Senate Bill 0799 (“Relating to Insurance–Prescription Drug Benefits”) which would require health insurers to accept and count payments made on behalf of patients towards deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. We thank you for holding a hearing on this important issue and ask that you pass the bill as soon as possible.