amfAR Condemns Ruling That Would Sabotage HIV Prevention Efforts

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

amfAR Condemns Ruling That Would Sabotage HIV Prevention Efforts

Analysis finds Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling could result in as many as 2,000 new HIV infections over the next year.

NEW YORK, March 31, 2023 — amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, a leading biomedical research and advocacy nonprofit, urges the Justice Department to take immediate action to fight a federal judge’s ruling limiting insurance coverage of HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP. In September of 2022, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor ruled that employers cannot be required to cover certain preventive health care services, including PrEP, as the Affordable Care Act mandates. A new ruling by Judge O’Connor yesterday affirms that decision.

Other preventive health services, such as cancer screenings, could also no longer be covered as a result of the ruling. Recent analysis in the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases finds that Judge O’Connor’s ruling could result in as many as 2,000 new, entirely preventable HIV infections in the next year alone.

The Justice Department can now request this ruling be put on hold while the case is appealed. amfAR urges the Justice Department to take immediate action to prevent at-risk Americans from losing coverage they count on to access critical medications that could help end the HIV epidemic.

“This ruling to block the provision of preventive services in insurance plans will have health damaging effects for millions of Americans.”

amfAR Senior Policy and Medical Advisor and former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Susan Blumenthal, M.D., MPA

“Preventive screenings and care reduce human suffering, save lives, and decrease the economic costs of disease,” amfAR Senior Policy and Medical Advisor and former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General Susan Blumenthal, M.D., MPA, warned. “This ruling to block the provision of preventive services in insurance plans will have health damaging effects for millions of Americans.”

“The advent of PrEP revolutionized HIV prevention for individuals of all genders and it remains one of the most important and effective tools we have in preventing HIV acquisition,” amfAR Vice President and Director of Public Policy Greg Millett said. “This ruling sets a dangerous precedent that could prompt other jurisdictions to erect similar barriers to accessing PrEP, and it has the potential to seriously undermine efforts to combat HIV in the U.S. Imagine a healthcare provider having a religious objection to providing you with heart or diabetes medication? It’s unthinkable. Prohibiting access to medication because of religious principles violates the ‘do no harm’ principle of the Hippocratic Oath. This ruling legalizes bigotry against the gay community.”

Judge O’Connor’s full ruling can be read here.

Media Contact:
Robert Kessler, Program Communications Manager
(212) 806-1602
robert.kessler@amfar.org