[LINK] "Want insurance to cover your PrEP? Good luck"

[rfmcdonald]

Daily Xtra's Niko Bell reports about the difficulties of many British Columbians in getting access to PrEP.

Last fall, Dan wanted to get on PrEP in time for Pride in Palm Springs.

A young gay man from Vancouver, whose name Daily Xtra shortened to protect his identity, he had heard all about the pre-exposure prophylaxis drug from previous trips to the United States.

He knew it was effective and relatively safe. He figured a month would be enough to talk to his doctor, get insurance coverage, and pick up the pills. By the time he was partying in California, he thought, he would have a drug flowing through his veins that has been shown to prevent HIV infection as effectively as condoms.

It was not to be.

It took two rejections and over two months of wrangling with his insurance company before Dan was finally covered. In the end, the experience left him so frustrated he has never filled his prescription, choosing to simply buy unprescribed Truvada through an acquaintance.

In British Columbia, Dan’s experience is sadly typical. While many insurance companies will theoretically cover Truvada in some cases, gay men face repeated rejections, confusion, contradictory directions and misinformation before finally getting covered, if they are at all. Since Truvada costs about $900 a month, insurance is usually the only option.

When Dan first approached his insurer, Pacific Blue Cross, about the medication, they told him they could not cover it because it was supposed to be covered by the province; he would have to get a letter from his doctor saying it was for a different purpose, and fill out an application for a special exception.