California will expand access to HIV prevention drugs by allowing pharmacies to offer the medications without a prescription under a law signed by Gov. The law will also bar insurance companies from requiring prior authorization before the HIV prevention drugs are provided. The California Health Benefit Review Program estimated that the bill would result in more than 700 people obtaining the HIV prevention drugs, leading to 25 fewer cases of new HIV transmissions in the first year of the law‘s implementation. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended that doctors offer daily HIV prevention pills to healthy people who are at high risk for contracting HIV. In Los Angeles County, there were 1,731 newly diagnosed cases of HIV in 2017, according to the most recent California HIV Surveillance Report published by the California Department of Public Health.

Source: Los Angeles Times October 07, 2019 22:14 UTC