Rep. Watson Coleman Reintroduces PrEP Assistance Program Act

Today, Representative Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12) announced the reintroduction of the PrEP Assistance Program Act to make the preventative HIV drug PrEP more affordable and accessible to underserved and high-risk populations. The bill would provide grants to cover medication costs, clinic and testing fees, physician visits and community outreach programs.

Although PrEP has been available for several years, many Americans lack access to and awareness of the medication. The PrEP access gap is especially prevalent in Black and Latinx communities, who also suffer from disproportionately high rates of HIV.

"Thanks to decades of scientific advancement, we now have the tools to end the HIV epidemic once and for all. The next step is getting those tools into the communities that need them most," said Congresswoman Watson Coleman. "This is not just a public health issue - it's a social justice issue too. The PrEP Assistance Program Act is an important step toward both eliminating HIV and advancing healthcare equity."

The PrEP Assistance Program Act is endorsed by PrEP4All, an organization of community members, healthcare professionals, lawyers, and academics all dedicated to increasing access to lifesaving HIV medication and NMAC, formally the National Minority AIDS Council, a national HIV organization that offers capacity building, leadership development, policy education, and public engagement to end the HIV epidemic among communities most impacted in the United States.

"Representative Watson Coleman's PrEP Assistance Program Act advances the kind of streamlined, modernized approach to PrEP access that PrEP4All has advocated for since 2018, said PrEP4All Executive Director Jeremiah Johnson. "By establishing a federal PrEP Pass for uninsured populations, a concept we championed in a 2024 report, the Congresswoman's bill eliminates complex and fragmented approaches to addressing costs for medications and required lab work that have severely limited PrEP scale up. This is a visionary piece of legislation that will end HIV as an epidemic by opening up the floodgates on PrEP for communities that have not equitably benefited from PrEP access."

"NMAC is proud to support the PrEP Assistance Act, which would deliver affordable HIV prevention drugs, HIV testing, and prevention education to communities that are still at risk," said Harold Phillips, Chief Executive Officer of NMAC. "To end the HIV epidemic we must guarantee access to HIV prevention medications and services for the communities most affected. NMAC applauds the leadership of Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, a long-time champion of the HIV community, in introducing this legislation and working to increase equitable PrEP access."

The PrEP Assistance Program Act is cosponsored by Reps. Andre Carson (IN-07), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC-At Large), Bill Keating (MA-09), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Bennie Thompson (MS-02), and Sylvia Garcia (TX-29).

You can read the full text of the bill here.