HIV patients threatened by proposed CMS rule
By The Hon. Donna Christensen, on October 8, 2020
![HIV patients threatened by proposed CMS rule](https://consumers4qualitycare.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CQCLogoOption01-854x400.png)
This letter to the editor originally appeared in The Baltimore Sun.
Maryland has one of the highest rates of HIV-positive patients in the country. Unfortunately, a proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has the potential to significantly raise out-of-pocket costs and prevent access to critical treatments for as many as 32,000 Marylanders living with HIV (“Baltimore officials fear the coronavirus pandemic will exacerbate another public health issue: STD rates,” Oct. 7).
Many Marylanders with HIV are stable when they take their medication, and they often depend on cost-sharing assistance like co-pay coupons to afford the prescription drugs they need. While the proposal (CMS 2842 P) has good intentions — to ensure cost-sharing assistance benefits patients directly and not health plans — it actually has the opposite effect. The proposal would, in fact, further erode the availability of cost-sharing assistance and increase out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for patients.
The language in this proposal could have significant and far-reaching negative consequences. Many HIV treatments can significantly extend the life of patients, but these benefits are dependent on long-term medication adherence. If patients can no longer afford their medication because cost-sharing assistance has been eliminated, they cannot properly manage the virus.
…