PrEP4All To Hold Emergency Virtual Town Hall this Tuesday In Response To Braidwood v. Becerra

Judgment Jeopardizes PrEP Access, HIV Testing, and Other Preventive Healthcare

PrEP4All and the HIV advocacy community are outraged at U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor's decision in Braidwood v. Becerra, striking the requirement that most insurers cover a range of critical preventive services such as PrEP, HIV testing, STD screening, cancer screenings, diabetes screenings, and more .

In June 2019, the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) gave oral PrEP a Grade A rating, which resulted in most insurers being required to cover medication, labs, and provider visits for PrEP at no cost to the consumer. In a sweeping decision in Braidwood v. Becerra, Judge O'Connor struck down all of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) coverage and cost-sharing protections for USPSTF Grade A and B rated services.

"The ACA preventive services provision has ensured that millions of people, including PrEP users, can access the services they need at no cost. This purely political decision not only undermines people's ability to access PrEP, but also undercuts access to a range of preventive services, including cancer screenings, mental health interventions, and smoking cessation services," states Christian Urrutia, PrEP4All co-founder and Managing Director of Development and Operations. "Judge Reed O'Connor's decision has set us back years in terms of healthcare access and will undoubtedly impact our nation's effort to end the HIV epidemic. We must do better. And we call on state legislatures and issuers themselves to ensure that these preventive services protections continue."

As PrEP4All and community advocates continue to fight for a national PrEP program to make PrEP accessible to uninsured individuals, we must now fight harder to address unnecessary systemic barriers to PrEP care for insured individuals as a result of this judgment.

PrEP4All, joined by AVAC, HIV Medicine Association, Center for HIV Law & Policy, Lambda Legal, and other HIV prevention advocates, will host an emergency virtual town hall on Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at 6:00 PM ET. We will help the community better understand the implications of Judge Reed's ruling and discuss next advocacy steps to ensure those in need of PrEP can access it.