Senate gives strong bipartisan support to Sanborn bill to increase access to HIV prevention medication

AUGUSTA – On Thursday, a bill from Sen. Heather Sanborn, D-Portland, was passed by the Maine Senate. LD 1115, “An Act to Improve Access to HIV Prevention Medications,” would make it easier for Mainers to access lifesaving HIV prevention medication. The bill received bipartisan support in a vote of 30-3.

“Forty years ago, Dr. Anthony Fauci began doing research into the HIV/AIDS epidemic. We have come a long way since then, and while we don’t yet have a vaccine, we do have medications that can not only treat HIV, but actually prevent someone from contracting it in the first place,” said Sen. Sanborn. “These are incredible, lifesaving drugs, but if the people who need these medications cannot access them, they are useless. This bill will make a real difference for Mainers by making it easier to access PrEP and PEP medications and necessary bloodwork, and require that state-regulated insurance plans cover them.”

LD 1115 would require state-regulated health insurance providers to cover at least one HIV prevention drug for each method of administration with no out-of-pocket cost. One drug for each administration method also must be available without a prior authorization, which can slow down the process of a patient getting a medication. The bill also would set up a process where, under certain conditions, a participating pharmacist would be able to dispense and administer up to a 60-day supply of HIV prevention medication to someone without a prescription from a physician. This process would be subject to rules and protocols approved by Maine’s Board of Pharmacy.

“As a former public health professional, I have spent my entire adult life working to eradicate HIV from our communities,” said Sen. Craig Hickman, D-Winthrop. “Back when I lived in Boston, I laid down in the street to block traffic as a member of ACT UP after burying 34 friends in the first six months of 1994. We’ve come a long way. Voting for this legislation today as the only openly gay member of the Maine Senate, and right in the middle of Pride month, is a kind of serendipity that made my heart swell and rain fall from my eyes.”

HIV prevention medication is defined as either PrEP, pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, post-exposure prophylaxis. PrEP is used to prevent an HIV negative person from contracting HIV before exposure to the virus. PEP is used after an HIV negative person believes they have been exposed to the virus. When taken as prescribed, PrEP and PEP are highly effective.

The bill faces additional votes in the Legislature.

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