Expert: Two PrEP Drugs Now Covered by Nearly All Health Insurers, Heightening Role of Pharmacists in Fight Against HIV

Pharmacy Times interviewed Brad McElya, PharmD, director of specialty health solutions at Walgreens, on the critical role pharmacists play in providing HIV prevention drugs in communities across America, as well as how this role has been impacted by the announcement from the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Department of Labor, and Department of Treasury that the 2 approved pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs for HIV prevention, Truvada and Descovy, are now being covered by nearly all health insurers.

During the interview, McElya addresses what caused this change on coverage for PrEP and when this change occurred, whether this change in coverage will impact the payment and reimbursement process for pharmacists, what some best practices are when counseling patients on HIV prevention options, and what the value of the pharmacist is in the fight against the HIV epidemic.