AB 554: Health care coverage: antiretroviral drugs, drug devices, and drug products.

Existing law, the Knox-Keene Health Care Service Plan Act of 1975, provides for the licensure and regulation of health care service plans by the Department of Managed Health Care and makes a willful violation of the act a crime. Existing law provides for the regulation of health insurers by the Department of Insurance. Existing law generally prohibits a health care service plan, excluding a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or health insurer from subjecting antiretroviral drugs that are medically necessary for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, including preexposure prophylaxis or postexposure prophylaxis, to prior authorization or step therapy. Under existing law, a health care service plan or health insurer is not required to cover all the therapeutically equivalent versions of those drugs without prior authorization or step therapy if at least one is covered without prior authorization or step therapy.

This bill, the Protecting Rights, Expanding Prevention, and Advancing Reimbursement for Equity (PrEPARE) Act of 2025, would instead prohibit a health care service plan, excluding a Medi-Cal managed care plan, or health insurer from subjecting antiretroviral drugs, drug devices, or drug products that are medically necessary for the prevention of HIV/AIDS, to prior authorization or step therapy, but would authorize prior authorization or step therapy if at least one therapeutically equivalent version is covered without prior authorization or step therapy. The bill would specify that, for therapeutically equivalent coverage purposes, a long-acting drug, drug device, or drug product is not therapeutically equivalent to a long-acting drug, drug device, or drug product with a different duration. The bill would require a plan or insurer that covers non-self-administered antiretroviral drugs, drug devices, or drug products that are approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the prevention of HIV/AIDS as a medical benefit to also include those non-self-administered antiretroviral drugs, drug devices, or drug products as an outpatient prescription drug benefit.

This bill would require a nongrandfathered health care service plan contract or health insurance policy to provide coverage for antiretroviral drugs, drug devices, or drug products that are approved by the FDA for HIV preexposure prophylaxis, and would prohibit a nongrandfathered health care service plan contract or health insurance policy from imposing any cost sharing for those drugs, drug devices, or drug products. The bill would prohibit a plan or insurer from imposing cost sharing on a nonformulary antiretroviral drug, drug device, or drug product that is approved by the FDA for HIV preexposure prophylaxis and is covered pursuant to an exception request if the nonformulary antiretroviral drug, drug device, or drug product is therapeutically equivalent to a formulary antiretroviral drug, drug device, or drug product that is approved by the FDA for HIV preexposure prophylaxis and is covered by the plan or insurer without cost sharing. The bill would exempt Medi-Cal managed care plans from these provisions.

Because a willful violation of these provisions by a health care service plan would be a crime, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.

The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.

This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason.