August 28, 2024

The Impact of Court Decisions on Sexual Health Care Access

The Public Policy Department will host a Sexual Health Institute at USCHA on Friday, September 13, 2024, at 8:00 a.m., centering sexual health as a part of primary care as an important response to our current political environment.

Participants of the institute will learn:

1. How the decisions in Dobbs and Braidwood have affected the future of health care access, particularly sexual health care.
2. How state and federal policies impact health equity in general and sexual health care access in particular for all people, especially those without private insurance.
3. How the Academy’s work to develop its Sexual Health Curriculum through its internal validation study helps providers respond to current attacks on access.

Through interactive discussion, participants will share advocacy best practices for overcoming structural challenges and getting providers off the sidelines.

Join us in September at USCHA in New Orleans.

POLICY HAPPENINGS

Policy in Clinical Practice: “Black in the South” (Recent Event)

On Tuesday, August 20, the Academy joined organizations across the Southern U.S. to commemorate the sixth annual Southern HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (SHAAD). Southern AIDS Coalition launched this awareness day in 2019 for individuals all over the nation to join a movement to raise awareness, erase HIV-related stigma and discrimination, and to advocate for new and necessary resources and solutions to stem the tide of HIV in the South.

We heard a panel of southern leaders from Memphis, TN, Baton Rouge, LA, and Jacksonville, FL discuss how HIV stigma exists in communities and the strategies to end this stigma. Share your thoughts on social media using the hashtags #SHAAD, #HIVAwareness, and #NewOrleans. Visit https://southernsolution.org/ for more information.

Webinar: PrEP Your Booty

Join the PrEP Your Booty – The Launch of HPTN 106 “Rev Up” webinar, which takes place Thursday, August 29, at 9:00 a.m. ET, sponsored by HIV Prevention Trials Network.

The HPTN 106 (REV UP) clinical trial will investigate the safety and acceptability of a tenofovir-based rectal douche for HIV prevention among cisgender men and transgender women who have sex with men. Hear directly from researchers leading the study during the webinar. Share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #PrEPEquity. Register now.

Webinar: Let’s Talk LEN

Join the Let’s Talk LEN Webinar: What Global Advances in HIV Prevention Mean for Black Communities in the U.S., taking place Thursday, August 29, at 1:30 p.m. ET. Speakers will discuss the groundbreaking results from the PURPOSE 1 trial conducted among cisgender Ugandan and South African women and how these results have changed the injectable PrEP global landscape.

This webinar will explore the implications of these findings for U.S. Black populations. The webinar is sponsored by the PrEP in Black America coalition, the Black Public Health Academy, Federal AIDS Policy Partnership Research Working Group, AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition and the American Public Health Association. Share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #PrEPEquity. Register now. 

RxEACH Initiative

The Academy will join the AIDS United Public Policy Council in New Orleans as it considers the RxEACH initiative, a national coalition effort working to expand and sustain access to HIV prevention and linkage to care services in community pharmacies. Share your thoughts on social media using the hashtag #PrEPEquity.

Ongoing Opportunity: Georgia PrEP Equity Community Index

The Black Public Health Academy has launched the Georgia PrEP Equity Community Index (PECI), a Black-led and Black-focused community engaged strategy to increase PrEP initiation and persistence among Black Georgians. Share this opportunity with your networks on social media and use the hashtag #PrEPEquity.

How to get involved:

• Join the listserv by completing the Georgia PrEP Equity Community Index Form.
• Sign-up for the newsletter.

COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS AND  SIGN-ONS

Access to Hepatitis B Vaccines

The Academy has joined the Immunization Alliance for Equity and Access in proposing that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ​​expand access to hepatitis B vaccines for Medicare recipients. See the letter here.

The Academy also encourages its members to submit their own public comments. The more community support, the greater the likelihood that CMS will finalize the rule. You can use this public comment template. It is best if you add information about you/your organization and why increased access to hepatitis B vaccines is important.

PrEP in ACA Risk Adjustment

The Academy joined Yale/HPTN096 on a sign on letter to urge CMS to take immediate action to include PrEP in the ACA risk adjustment model as part of the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters 2026 Rule to properly reward and incentivize insurers to increase PrEP uptake. You can read the letter here.

Updated USPSTF PrEP Guidance

The Academy joined 62 organizations in a sign-on letter requesting CMS to issue updated guidance to insurers based on the most recent USPSTF recommendation, namely that new plans should be required to cover long acting PrEP and ancillary services without cost-sharing. The letter also requests CMS to prohibit prior authorizations and include all future FDA approved PrEP drugs in updated guidance from CMS.

Opposing Cuts to CDC Funding

The Academy was one of 164 organizations representing the Injury and Violence Prevention Network and allied organizations that voiced their opposition to the proposed cuts outlined in the FY25 Labor-HHS appropriations bill which would slash the CDC’s funding by 22 percent, including the elimination of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (Injury Center).

Letter to Reject Arbitrary Funding for FY25

Non-defense discretionary (NDD) investments are once again being threatened and continually fall far below what is needed to keep Americans strong now and in the future. The Academy joined the NDD (Non Defense Discretionary) Coalition sign-on in calling on Congress to reject arbitrary funding levels for FY25 and fund at a level that recognizes rising costs and need for investments, and keep poison pill policy riders out of the package. You can read the letter here.

This campaign ran through the end of June to ensure a strong and organized response to help Congress understand that cuts and caps will make us weaker—not stronger. We want to keep this issue top of mind as this issue shows up with each fiscal year.