GMHC Responds to Complaints Over Alleged HIV Drug Coverage Discrimination
Seven Insurers in Eight States Alleged to Have Discriminated
October 20, 2016 - New York, New York - GMHC released the following statement in response to complaints filed recently with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights by Harvard Law School’s Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation. The complaints charge that plans offered by seven insurers in eight states are discriminatory because they don’t cover drugs that are essential to the treatment of HIV or require high out-of-pocket spending by patients for covered drugs. According to the complaint, the effect may be to discourage people with HIV from buying a particular plan or getting the treatment they need.
STATEMENT BY GMHC CEO KELSEY LOUIE:
The recent complaints filed show us what we have known for years – many insurers continue to look out for their bottom line, not the best interests of the population. We have been battling limited access and high costs of HIV drugs for years. Now is the time for state and federal regulators to step up and mandate the necessary regulations to ensure those living with HIV and AIDS get the life-saving medication they sorely need.
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About Gay Men's Health Crisis
Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC) is the nation's leading provider of HIV and AIDS care, prevention services and advocacy, serving nearly 10,000 people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS in New York City, the epicenter of the epidemic in the U.S. As the world's first HIV and AIDS service organization, GMHC is an expert in providing services that every person affected by the epidemic deserves. GMHC is on the front lines caring for people who are both HIV negative and positive, including: testing, nutrition, legal, mental health and education services. GMHC also advocates for stronger public policies at the local, state and federal level with the goal of ending AIDS as an epidemic in New York State by 2020. Most recently, GMHC and other HIV and AIDS organizations successfully persuaded the federal government to recommend widespread use of PrEP, a new daily treatment that is over 90% effective in preventing HIV infection. For more information, visit www.gmhc.org .
Contact:
Danielle Filson
646-335-0443
danielle.filson@berlinrosen.com
Source: GMHC
"Reproduced with permission - GMHC"
GMHC
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