Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Protesters Arrested After Demanding HIV Prevention Program At Capitol
The Washington Post: Seven Arrested In Protest At McCarthy’s Office Over HIV Program
Seven people were arrested after occupying the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Capitol Hill and demanding that Congress reauthorize the PEPFAR global initiative to fight HIV and AIDS. The provisions of PEPFAR — which stands for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief — are set to expire Sept. 30. The program has been credited with saving more than 25 million lives. (Silverman, 9/11)
Axios: Why A Longtime HIV Relief Program Has Higher Stakes For Funding This Year
The HIV/AIDS community is also concerned about increased scrutiny of federal HIV programs, and that that House Republicans' 2024 budget proposal called for eliminating the CDC's Ending the HIV Epidemic program started under the Trump administration. "These culture wars are now leaking into and harming public health," Kyle McGowan, of consulting firm Ascendant Strategic Partners, who served as chief of staff at the CDC during the Trump administration, told KFF Health News. (Reed, 9/7)
More about the cost of HIV drugs —
Health Payer Intelligence: Medicare Part D Patients With HIV May See Lower Drug Costs Under IRA
The Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare Part D redesign may improve affordability for beneficiaries with HIV, but stakeholders will need to take steps to ensure beneficiaries get the most out of these cost breaks, an Avalere analysis found. “The IRA’s Part D redesign provisions aim to reduce affordability challenges and may significantly affect PWH,” the analysis stated. “HIV stakeholders hope that addressing affordability challenges could increase access to antiretrovirals and potentially improve antiretroviral adherence.” (Waddill, 9/11)
Fierce Healthcare: Blue Cross NC Removes HIV Drugs From Costly Price Tiers
Following accusations in December of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina violating a provision in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by discrimination through health insurance plan design, the state’s largest insurer has removed 48 drugs from its costliest drug tiers. The change is expected to allow patients to pay for HIV drugs at more affordable prices. In its midyear drug formulary (PDF), no HIV drugs remain on the costliest tiers of drugs, Tiers 5 and 6. The insurer also moved 19 generic HIV drugs to Tier 2 and removed quantity limits previously imposed on HIV drugs. (Tong, 9/6)
In HIV/AIDS research —
aidsmap: Antibodies That ‘Wait And Pounce’ Generated By Promising HIV Vaccine Candidate
An HIV vaccine candidate has proved it can guide B-cells, the part of the immune system that makes antibodies, into being able to produce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) with the ability to block the entry into T-cells of many strains of HIV. Dr Wilton Williams of Duke University described the vaccine candidate in a plenary talk at July’s 12th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (IAS 2023). (Cairns, 9/7)
Medical Xpress: Researchers Find Genetically Intact HIV Virus Prefers To 'Hide' In Organs Of The Immune System
A small number of HIV-infected cells remain in the tissues of people living with the virus and who are undergoing antiretroviral therapy. These viral reservoirs, real obstacles to the cure of HIV, have long been known to exist. Until now, however, it wasn't known which organs the virus prefers to hide in. ... In a study published in the journal Cell Reports, the scientists reveal that genetically intact viruses, responsible for viral rebound if antiretroviral therapy is interrupted, are concentrated in the deep tissues of the spleen and lymph nodes, organs of the immune system. (Geoffroy, 9/11)
Freethink: At Least 5 People Have Been Cured Of HIV. Is The Pandemic Ending?
Being diagnosed with AIDS used to be a death sentence — in the US, more than half of those diagnosed with the disease between 1981 and 1992 died within 2 years. Today, though, the life expectancy of someone in the US who is infected with HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — is about the same as the rest of the population. (Houser, 9/9)
On aging with HIV —
The New York Times: Statin May Lower Heart Disease Risk For H.I.V. Patients
Americans with H.I.V. are achieving the once unthinkable: a steady march into older age. But beginning around age 50, many people living with the virus face a host of health problems, from heart disease and diabetes to social isolation and cognitive decline. And so the medical research community, which some three decades ago developed lifesaving drugs to keep the virus at bay, is now hunting for new ways to keep people with H.I.V. healthier in their later years. (Ryan, 9/10)
Healthline: Olympian Greg Louganis: We Need to Improve Care for Older People Living with HIV
Olympic diving icon Greg Louganis shares how he learned to overcome anxiety by working his “courage muscles” and why he’s passionate about improving care for mental health and people who are aging with HIV. (Mastroianni, 9/9)
