In recent weeks there has been considerable public debate
around the issue of access to Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for people at
risk of contracting HIV. For the most part this back-and-forth has revolved
around the issue of PrEP affordability, with the hefty $20,000 a year price tag
for the only currently PrEP-indicated drug Truvada and its manufacturer Gilead
Sciences coming under intense scrutiny from Members of Congress and HIV
advocacy groups. However, there are other factors outside of the list price of
PrEP that have contributed significantly to its underutilization among those
who could benefit from it, and Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) has just unveiled a
plan to address a number of them.
On Thursday, the California Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful unveiled the PrEP Access
and Coverage Act, a bill that would increase access to PrEP by requiring
all health insurers to cover the full cost of the medication, and all of the
required lab tests and follow up visits that come with it, without a copay. Senator Harris' legislation would also provide funding for a grant program to assist states,
territories, and tribal communities in ensuring that those who are uninsured
have access to PrEP, as well as prohibiting discrimination against PrEP
patients in the sale of life, disability, and long-term care insurance, and
creating a public education campaign to increase understanding of PrEP and
combat stigma associated with its use.
The PrEP Access and Coverage Act hopes to build off of the
momentum from last week’s announcement from the U.S. Preventive Services Task
Force (USPSTF) that PrEP now has an “A” rating from the body, which requires
private insurers to cover PrEP without cost-sharing for individuals on their
plans. This “A” rating from the USPSTF will be a tremendous boon to access of
PrEP medication, but it comes with no guarantee that insurers will have to
cover costly provider visits and lab tests that are so often a barrier to
people at risk of contracting HIV. Senator Harris’ legislation would ensure
that the costs of lab work and follow-up visits with health care providers wouldn’t
be an impediment to accessing PrEP.
AIDS United is proud to support the PrEP Access and Coverage
Act and believes that it can be a key part of a comprehensive approach to
ensuring PrEP gets in the hands of the people who need it, particularly Black, Latinx,
and Native American men who have sex with men, women and transgender
individuals who have the highest risk of contracting HIV. If paired with more
affordable PrEP medication and concerted
outreach and efforts to center the experiences and concerns of communities of
color who have experienced and continue to experience the destructive effects
of medical racism in any scale up of PrEP, the programs and policy changes
included in the PrEP Access and Coverage Act will enable everyone in the United
States who is at risk of contracting HIV to receive the services they need live
well.
In a statement that was included in Senator
Harris’s press release announcing the introduction of the PrEP Access and
Coverage Act, AIDS United CEO Jesse Milan, Jr. said, “Ending the HIV epidemic
in the U.S. requires effective, comprehensive, affordable, and sustainable
public health strategies…[and] if our policies and public health program
systems don’t help the most vulnerable among us—we must strengthen or rebuild
them, because continuing to fail communities who have been historically left
behind is no longer just or acceptable…That
means building systems and creating policies like those proposed by Senator
Harris’ PrEP legislation… Her proposal makes the gamechanger of PrEP even more
real.”
Posted By: AIDS United, Policy Department - Friday, June 21, 2019
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