lorida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) met with Publix and confirmed that the grocery chain was refusing to cover PrEP. Oddly, they claimed to not generally cover “medication to treat a medical condition that someone might get in the future,” which would describe many common medications.
I met with @Publix's government relations team about their refusal to offer insurance coverage for PrEP, the HIV prevention pill for their employees. Here's how it went. #Sayfie pic.twitter.com/nKvKTDDsCM
— Rep. Carlos G Smith (@CarlosGSmith) February 6, 2018
Following national outcry last week of reports that the southern grocery chain Publix did not cover PrEP for its employees, the company announced Tuesday morning on Twitter that it’s expanding its coverage to include PrEP as quickly as possible.
Publix appreciates the concerns shared by our associates and customers. We offer generous health coverage to our eligible full-time and part-time associates at an affordable premium and are committed to the health and well-being of our associates and their families. We... 1/3
— Publix (@Publix) February 6, 2018
...regularly evaluate what is covered by our health plan and have made the decision to expand our health plan’s coverage of Truvada to include Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). We are working with our pharmacy benefits manager to implement this change as quickly as... 2/3
— Publix (@Publix) February 6, 2018
This is a very quick change of tune. On Monday, Publix officials met with Florida state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D) and confirmed to him that they were denying PrEP coverage, but wouldn’t clarify why. Read move via Think Progress