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HIV Prevention Drugs Will Soon Be Available Without a Prescription at Pharmacies in California.

SB 159 by Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) authorizes pharmacists to furnish pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP and PEP) without a physician’s prescription.

The bill also prohibits insurance companies from requiring prior authorizations for patients to obtain PrEP coverage. 

The state budget includes one-time $40 million General Fund for infectious diseases prevention and control and ongoing $2 million General Fund specifically to address sexually transmitted diseases, as well as an additional ongoing $5 million General Fund for HIV prevention and control. “Recent breakthroughs in the prevention and treatment of HIV can save lives,” Governor Newsom said of signing SB 159. “All Californians deserve access to PrEP and PEP, two treatments that have transformed our fight against HIV and AIDS. I applaud the Legislature for taking action to expand access to these treatments and getting us closer to ending HIV and AIDS for good.” Today’s actions build on the Governor’s efforts to confront the cost crisis affecting working Californians. Just moments after being sworn in, the Governor launched a series of first-in-the-nation actions to make health care more affordable for all Californians and to move the state closer toward the goal of health care for all. Those proposals included Executive Order N-01-19 to create the nation’s largest single-purchaser system for drugs and to, ultimately, allow all Californians and private employers to sit together at the bargaining table across from big drug companies when negotiating prescription drug prices. Earlier this year, the Governor announced that the counties of Los Angeles, Santa Clara, Alameda and San Francisco, among the largest public purchasers of prescription drugs in California, will partner with the state to use our combined market power to take on drug companies and lower the cost of prescription drugs. 

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