GETTING PREP

[Guest]

I do not know if this has been asked before.

 

Is there anyway to get Prep in the USA without it showing on health care bills? 

Sure would be nice for the married guy.

[viking8x6]

Short answer: yes.

Longer answer: depends what you mean by "health care bills". You will have to pay for it no matter what. If you want your insurance to pay for it, there's really no way to do that without them keeping a record of it. If you're OK with paying out of pocket, there are lots of options. Services like HIMS, using your regular doctor and sending the Rx to a different pharmacy and paying cash, getting the drugs from an overseas pharmacy. The blood work (to monitor your kidneys and HIV status) is a bit more difficult (or at least expensive), and responsible doctors will push you to do it. Which is a good idea, but in the end you are the one responsible for your own health and risks.

 

[bihairy]

Truvada for PReP has gone generic so it’s not as expensive as it was. 
If you don’t want to go to your primary care (pcp) doc, you can find an infectious disease (ID) doctor and they will prescribe. As Viking mentioned they will want to monitor your liver etc and you need to do it in order to get refills 

Generally, quarterly or every 4-6 months depending on your doc. 
 

I’ve been on it for years. Love the BB freedom! 

[408curious]

Accendotal:   one posted here on BZ said he was prescribed PREP through an alternate source and when he was seeing his regular DR.  they asked are you still taking it.   I don't know but possibly his insurance records were the crossover of information...    OR...  

I was told by a hospital CT tech once, that in Emergency cases, there is some interconnected system where they can look up your medical records from pretty much anywhere. 

[1stimebare]

Your doctor's will be able to see that you are on it.  I was questioned about it by my urologist during a visit awhile back.  He was looking at the computer while asking questions, asked if I was HIV positive when he saw all the tests, (done every two months before the apretude injections).  Told him no and he seem confused for just a split second then said oh, "so you're taking it as a preventative", and that was the end of the conversation.  No big deal.  I was under the impression my insurance was paying, but when I got my most recent shot earlier this month I asked at the infectious disease doctors about if the court ruling in the Texas case might cause a problem with insurance paying and they told me it was actually being paid for by the manufacturers assistance program, not insurance.  I knew we filled out paperwork for that but had been under the impression it was being paid by insurance.  At any rate all it costs me is a copay for an office visit to get the shot every other month.

[Rillion]

I'm currently getting discovy through Mistr and while I gave them all my insurance info, I haven't received any notices or explanation of benefits from my insurance company related to prep for the service, the tests, or the prescription.

[Sorehole22]

I’ve made the decision to stop taking risks. Definitely negative right now amd want to stay that way. Does anyone know if you can get a script for Prep from an walk-in or urgent care? I am trying to be as anonymous as possible, pay in cash, etc. no credit cards or insurance.  

has anyone done this before? 

[BootmanLA]

4 hours ago, Sorehole22 said:

I’ve made the decision to stop taking risks. Definitely negative right now amd want to stay that way. Does anyone know if you can get a script for Prep from an walk-in or urgent care? I am trying to be as anonymous as possible, pay in cash, etc. no credit cards or insurance.  

has anyone done this before? 

*Generally speaking*, no. The reason is that before you start PrEP, any prescriber worth his salt is going to have you HIV tested - and not just the rapid test kind, but a more accurate test - to verify that you're actually HIV-negative. Those results usually take a few days. (You can say "definitely negative" but a prescriber is going to want to know for sure.)

The reason is that if you're HIV-positive, you don't want to start PrEP, which only prevents HIV; it can't treat it, because it only contains some of the types of medication needed for effective treatment. As a result, you could become resistant to the parts of the medication that are in PrEP, and then later, if you're diagnosed (correctly) as HIV-positive, many of the standard meds might not work.

Also, bear in mind that a month's supply of PrEP (assuming you take the daily dose) is going to be very expensive if you pay out of pocket. There's a lot of talk of PrEP being available in the US at no cost to the patient, but that's when the cost is transferred to an insurer, government medical program, or whatever - and all of those keep records. Going to the "on demand" dosing is cheaper, but 30 tablets, whether they last you one month or six (because you need at least 4 each time you have unprotected sex), that's still anywhere from $1500 to $2000 a bottle, if you pay retail pricing. 

And if nothing else, the place that fills the prescription is going to have your name, address, etc. on file, because that's required for filling the prescription. 

[DallasPozzible]

In my area, 30 days of generic Truvada can be found for $27 using GoodRx coupons. You’d still need a doc to prescribe it and do periodic testing. And it would show in pharmacy records. If you’re wanting to minimize risks, you probably want to also get on doxy-PEP to reduce risks of other STIs.

[Pegleg87]

I know going thru a clinic you can get set up for truvada. Even without insurance they have a program to get truvada for free. Gilead is program that helps but you still need to get the every 3 month check ups 

[Sorehole22]

Thank you all for your thought replies. Good info. 

[Bwccummer]

I found the one that offer prep testing as a home testing to mail in to be frustrating.  The instructions not clear. Seems too picky and have to get into a clinic for part of testing which is not practical for me.

Thinking need a more user friendly home prep testing. Not practical to prick figures for blood cards. Seems want more samples than likely need. I think make too many hoops to where ready to walk away from being on prep. I don't appreciate remaining to send again. For all I know they goof up test. 

Other place started giving me grieve on and I think maybe funding cut not do outreach testing. Thus be cautious in went to. In short many may not be able to travel easily to place to test.

Seems like be easier if in test prep be offered without a prescription if could be done. At least make test kit more user friendly. 

[BootmanLA]

On 3/29/2024 at 12:38 AM, Bwccummer said:

I found the one that offer prep testing as a home testing to mail in to be frustrating.  The instructions not clear. Seems too picky and have to get into a clinic for part of testing which is not practical for me.

Thinking need a more user friendly home prep testing. Not practical to prick figures for blood cards. Seems want more samples than likely need. I think make too many hoops to where ready to walk away from being on prep. I don't appreciate remaining to send again. For all I know they goof up test. 

Other place started giving me grieve on and I think maybe funding cut not do outreach testing. Thus be cautious in went to. In short many may not be able to travel easily to place to test.

Seems like be easier if in test prep be offered without a prescription if could be done. At least make test kit more user friendly. 

As I understand it, some of the tests required to ensure you're HIV-negative require blood samples. If you're not able to do a finger prick for a blood card, you almost certainly can't draw a blood sample to send in, either.

Yes, it would be great if the testing could be done at home. But it can't, because there's no lab technology that would work for that.