The Legislature doesn’t meet until January, but Prism Health is already planning for another brutal session. Several dozen people including members of the Legislature and congressional staff members got together at Prism’s Oak Cliff office on Wednesday morning to hear a panel discuss funding and the direction of HIV care.
At risk are programs such as ADAP, which pays for medications for uninsured people with HIV. If this federally funded program isn’t renewed, 21,000 Texans will have no access to the drugs keeping their viral loads suppressed.
The 340B program prevents programs paid by federal and state taxpayers from buying prescription drugs at a 300 to 1,000 percent markup, allowing greater access to expensive medications particularly for patients with cancer, Hep C and HIV. Funds for this program were recently diverted from direct grants from the federal government to specific HIV organizations to state governments. The concern is that in states like Texas, the funds won’t go toward organizations getting the needed medications to patients.
Long acting injectables were addressed by a panelist from ViiV, a maker of HIV drugs. She said there are already 39,000 people taking injections rather than a pill for a wide variety of reasons. For some people a daily pill is a daily reminder of their HIV infection. For others, staying on a daily regimen is more difficult than going twice a year for an injection. If LAIs are not included in next year’s funding, That’s thousands of people who could become contagious and may die from their disease.
In addition to funding, state Rep. Venton Jones was recognized for legislation that passed the House but didn’t come to the floor of the Senate. Had it become law, anyone testing for sexually transmitted diseases in Texas would have an HIV test included unless they opt out. Currently, you have to ask for an HIV test in addition to STI testing. Jones will introduce the bill again in the upcoming session.
— David Taffet