Over 220 HIV providers across the country signed onto a letter from the American Academy of HIV Medicine (AAHIVM) urging the Trump administration to abandon its proposed rule that would weaken Medicare Part D's six protected classes policy. AAHIVM points out that the proposed changes could lead to increased utilization management, resulting in decreased access to lifesaving treatments for Medicare’s most vulnerable beneficiaries. “In HIV, delaying and in some cases blocking patients’ access to tailored treatment is deleterious to not only the patients’ individual health, but also to the broader public health in terms of transmissibility of the virus,” the letter states. “For these reasons, we strongly oppose the Administration’s proposal to weaken the protected classes policy and urge this proposal to be withdrawn.”

​Recently, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma sent a letter to several Members of Congress in response to their concerns about proposed changes to Medicare’s six protected classes. This fact sheet includes key substantive excerpts, each of which are followed by important facts and policy details that policymakers should be aware of. 

A key group of 19 Democrats on the influential Energy & Commerce and Ways & Means Committees — which share jurisdiction over health policy — have sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar urging the Department to withdraw a proposal to weaken Medicare's protected classes policy. The letter, led by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), explains that "the proposed changes to the six protected classes will result in negative outcomes for specific beneficiary populations that utilize drugs under these six classes." The Members go on to emphasize that "with a 91 percent overall generic utilization rate and only one percent of the more than 187 million prescriptions filled coming from specialty tier medications, we strongly believe this policy is working as currently implemented and should not be changed."