A drug that reduces the risk of infection cost more than $20,000 a year in 2018, according to Harris' office.
Sen. Kamala Harris released a plan Thursday that would seek to slow the spread of HIV by making a preventive drug more accessible.Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis has been found to reduce the risk of contracting HIV by up to 92 percent for those who take it on a daily basis. But the drug cost more than $20,000 a year in 2018, according to Harris' office.Harris’ office estimates that just 7 percent of the 1 million Americans who could benefit from the drug have a prescription.
“For too many in our country, lack of insurance coverage and exorbitant costs have put PrEP out of reach—and that needs to change,” Harris said in a statement. "Nearly four decades since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis that took so many lives and caused countless others to live in fear, we can and will stop the spread of this disease.”The plan would require that private and public insurance plans cover PrEP without a copay.
The bill also would create a grant program, run through the Department of Health and Human Services, that would give money to states, territories or tribes to increase access to the drug for people without insurance. The legislation would allow for $300 million in grants over five years. The bill would also require that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention work with advocacy groups that represent the LGBTQ community and people of color on a public information campaign to raise awareness of the drug.
Finally the bill also would make it illegal for life insurance, disability insurance and long-term care insurance companies to charge PrEP users higher premiums.Harris’ office predicts that more than 1 million people would be helped by the proposal, particularly the LGBTQ population and people of color who would benefit from grants to ensure they have access to and information about PrEP.
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