SB439 – HIV Drugs
The NV legislature is considering a bill that will keep the flow of HIV drugs coming for all persons receiving state services and for incarcerated persons during a public health emergency (PHE). Need diabetes, blood pressure or asthma medications? Too bad…you can only have HIV drugs when the next PHE rolls out. The Senate Finance committee is hearing this bill TOMORROW MORNING Thursday May 25 at 8:00 AM with less than 24 hours of notification. This bill will require state and local health departments and prisons & jails to ensure that everyone have access to all FDA approved HIV drugs at all times. That would be pre-exposure PrEP drugs for persons who have not been exposed to HIV. Post-exposure PEP drugs for those who’ve potentially, maybe, possibly been exposed. And infection treatment HAART drugs for those who have tested positive. HIV drugs for literally everybody. It goes on to mandate ALL INSURANCE PLANS plans to cover HIV, substance abuse disorder and opioid use disorder drugs. It also revamps Sexuality Education in government schools to include HIV and AIDS so they can try to scare all the kids into taking the drugs. Here are the “highlights” of this mega pharma bill.
- Directs DHHS to create policies to provide uninterrupted HIV treatment services during a PHE to ALL persons receiving services from the department or any district, county or city health department and for all incarcerated individuals (state and local detention facilities).
- Requires Department of Corrections and local detention facilities (sheriff, chief of police or town marshall) to contract with a provider of HIV treatment for inmates that “demonstrates” that at least 95% of their patient population is diagnosed with HIV. They must offer treatment drugs on the same day as diagnosis. They must also offer drugs to all non HIV positive prisoners for the “prevention” of HIV.
- Requires that all state employee health plans cover HIV testing and drugs. Including coverage for pharmacists’ “prescriptions” for prevention of HIV drugs and for the new “Test to Treat” which 2021’s SB325 (NRS 639.28085) now allows pharmacists to immediately dispense treatment drugs with a positive test result.
- Updates Sexuality Education in schools (EXACT same wording as included in AB357 also going through the legislature right now). Also allows sexuality education topics to be included in other subjects’ curriculums.
- Includes midwives in definition of primary care health providers.
- Requires state Medicaid to pay the non-federal share of Substance Abuse Disorder and Opioid Use Disorder medication assisted treatment (MAT) drug treatment. MAT treatment is pharmaceutical drugs FOR LIFE to be used as a treatment to get off drugs.
- Requires state Medicaid pay the nonfederal share of testing, treatment and prevention of STDs including HIV.
- Requires all healthcare providers to take continuing education class on HIV stigma, discrimination and unrecognized bias.
- Requires ALL health insurance plans (private individual policies, employer policies, HMOs, PPOs, etc.) to cover all FDA approved drugs for Opioid Use Disorder, Substance Abuse Disorder, testing & drugs for treatment or prevention of STDs including HIV.
Please SHOW UP OR CALL IN TO TESTIFY IN OPPOSITION OF SB419. This bill benefits the pharmaceutical industry while preying upon our most vulnerable populations by pushing dangerous, unproven & highly toxic HIV drugs on them.