Companies Are Not Required to Cover HIV Prevention Drugs, Federal Judge Rules

Vanessa Etienne
·2 min read
3
acist Clint Hopkins displays the HIV prevention drugs Descovy, left and Truvada, right, at Pucci's Pharmacy in Sacramento, Calif., . Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill, SB159, by state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, Monday, authorizing pharmacists to sell the HIV preventative medications, to patients without a physician's prescription California-HIV Prevention, Sacramento, USA - 07 Oct 2019

Rich Pedroncelli/AP/Shutterstock

A federal judge in Texas has ruled that a component of the Affordable Care Act requiring employers to provide coverage for HIV prevention medication is unconstitutional, claiming it violates religious freedom.

The provision under the Affordable Care Act mandates free coverage of a number of preventative services including HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP.

The case centers around Braidwood Management and Kelley Orthodontics, two Christian-owned businesses in Texas that argue they shouldn't be mandated to offer coverage to their employees for PrEP because they don't want to "encourage homosexual behavior, prostitution, sexual promiscuity, and intravenous drug use."

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Reed O'Connor ruled that the ACA's mandate violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

He stated that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to provide any "compelling" evidence to argue that private, religious corporations should be required to cover PrEP "with no cost-sharing and no religious exemptions."

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An HHS spokesperson told Axios that the department "continues to work to ensure that people can access health care, free from discrimination."

While O'Connor did not vacate the mandate or issue a nationwide injunction, he requested that both sides file additional information by Friday before making a final decision.

According to the National Minority AIDS Council, employer-provided insurance is typically the only way for those at high risk for HIV to access PrEP medications.

Paul Kawata, executive director of NMAC, a national organization working toward health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic, told CNN that the decision could "cripple" HIV prevention efforts, specifically for people of color and Americans living in poverty.

"For many people at higher risk of HIV, employer-provided insurance is often their only way to access these vital medications," he said. "This decision has the potential to cut off millions of Americans from the life-protecting medications they need."

Other critics have pointed out that the judge's decision brands HIV as a condition that only affects men who have sex with men, even though HIV infections also occur in the straight community — and that it's harmful to present a lifesaving drug as a gay drug.

Following the news, a number of stars and activists quickly condemned the decision on social media.

"This is a direct attempt to weaken civil rights laws and harm the health of LGBTQ workers," the American Civil Liberties Union tweeted. "No employer has the right to harm employees in the name of their religion."

Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness wrote on his Instagram Story, "PrEP saves lives. This is insane how we let personal religious beliefs impact public health & people's bodies."