Testimony, Comments, & Letters

Support for New York’s S.5299-A/A.1741-A on copay assistance

The HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute is a leading HIV and hepatitis policy organization promoting quality and affordable healthcare for people living with or at risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other serious and chronic health conditions. We strongly support S.5299-A/A.1741-A, which would require health insurers to accept and count payments made on behalf of patients towards deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. We urge you to sign this legislation into law as soon as possible.

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Support for D.C.’s “Copay Accumulator Amendment Act of 2021”

HIV+Hep strongly supports the “Copay Accumulator Amendment Act of 2021” (Bill 24-0557) introduced by Chairman Gray and four councilmembers.  It simply requires that the copay assistance beneficiaries receive count towards their out-of-pocket obligation.  By passing this law, DC will join 14 other states (Arkansas, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, West Virginia, and Virginia) and Puerto Rico in protecting consumers by assuring their copay assistance will count towards cost-sharing obligations.

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Solutions to improve COVID-19 vaccine access & protect intellectual property

On behalf of the patients we serve who are living with HIV, hepatitis, cancer, lupus, autoimmune diseases, and other serious chronic and complex conditions, we write to share recommendations to address global COVID-19 vaccine equity and access barriers. While we commend the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Office of the United States Trade Representative for prioritizing efforts to improve vaccine access, it must not come at the expense of waiving intellectual property (IP) protections.  To do so would have unprecedented effects on future medical development.

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Testimony in support of increased funding for domestic HIV and hepatitis programs in the House FY 2023 Labor, HHS spending bill

On behalf of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, we respectfully submit this testimony in support of increased funding for domestic HIV and hepatitis programs in the FY 2023 Labor, HHS spending bill. Our nation is on a path to eliminating two infectious diseases, HIV and viral hepatitis, but we need increased funding to accelerate our efforts particularly in communities and populations disproportionately impacted. Increased investment in surveillance, education, prevention, and care and treatment will ensure we continue to address HIV and viral hepatitis, including taking a syndemic approach to achieve maximum impact. The programs and funding increases detailed below are pivotal to our nation’s ability to end both HIV and hepatitis.

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105 groups comment on the role of PBMs on patient access and affordability of prescription drugs

We, the undersigned 105 organizations, on behalf of millions of patients and Americans who live with complex conditions such as HIV, autoimmune diseases, cancer, diabetes, kidney disease, lupus, hemophilia, mental illness, and hepatitis write in response to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) request for public comment on the impact of pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) practices on consumers.  Specifically, we offer comments on how PBMs impact the health and well-being of patients who receive their health coverage through the private insurance market.  While most people think insurers make the majority of decisions regarding health coverage and affordability, when it comes to prescription drugs, it is the PBMs that drive much of the decisions as to what medications a beneficiary can access and how much they pay for them.  We commend the FTC for its leadership to investigate the impact that PBM practices have on the patient communities we serve and believe this represents a critical step forward to improving patient access and affordability to necessary medications.

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