Dallas Representative files bill to end prior authorization requirements for HIV prevention drug
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas Rep. Venton Jones, D-Dallas, filed a bill this legislative session to prohibit insurance companies from requiring prior authorization before covering medications intended to prevent the transmission of HIV.
The bill, HB 1680, would apply to any insurance plan that covers a Texas resident, except for any issued before March 24, 2010 that hasn’t had “significant changes.”
“A health benefit plan issuer that provides prescription drug benefits may not require an enrollee to receive a prior authorization of the prescription drug benefit for a prescription drug prescribed to prevent human immunodeficiency virus infection,” reads the introduced version of the bill.
KXAN reached out to Jones and local health clinics for their comments on the bill.
If passed, it would take effect on Sept. 1, but insurance plans won’t change immediately. The bill specifies that only plans “delivered, issued for delivery, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026” would change.
The bill has not yet been assigned to a House committee, which only formed Thursday.
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