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Article

29 Jun 2014

Author:
Louise Radnofsky, Wall Street Journal (USA)

Insurers Accused of Discriminating Against People With HIV [USA] [Subscription required]

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Patient advocacy groups are using antidiscrimination provisions in the health-care law as the basis of a complaint against insurers they say are trying to avoid covering consumers with HIV and AIDS…The complaint says the four insurers put every HIV drug…in the highest tier in their drug formularies, requiring patients to pay as much as 50% of the cost themselves…The health law bars insurers from charging customers more based on their medical history when it comes to setting premiums…[A] spokesman for Humana…[said it] covered all HIV drugs…and that the insurer considered most of them to be specialty drugs covered in the same category as treatments for [other] conditions…[A spokeswoman] said that Cigna covered all HIV drugs that were recognized as medically necessary and also offered consumers with HIV support managing their condition…[A] spokesman for Aetna…said the exchange plans offered by Coventry provided access to HIV care that followed the latest Department of Health and Human Services guidelines…