The HIV treatment and prevention landscape continues to evolve, with many effective medications. Antiretroviral therapy (ART), the frontline treatment for HIV since 1997, is a combination of medications that lower the amount of HIV in your bloodstream. When taken as prescribed every day, ART can help individuals with HIV achieve and maintain an undetectable viral load. As a result, more than half of all those living with HIV in the U.S. are not at risk of transmitting the virus to others.
Read Next Steps After an HIV Diagnosis
On the prevention front, PrEP, or pre-exposure prophylaxis, can lower risk of sexual transmission of HIV by 99% when taken daily and reduces the risk of getting HIV from intravenous drug use by about 74%.
For many individuals, cost is a barrier to both starting and continuing to take ART and PrEP as prescribed. Fortunately, HIV prevention medication and treatment continue to become more accessible, with generic PrEP options and expanded health insurance coverage of PrEP and ART. In addition, the following resources, including patient assistance programs and copay savings cards from medication manufacturers, can help reduce the cost of HIV treatment and prevention medication.
Read on to learn more about eligibility for these programs, and revisit our previous post on state-funded PrEP drug assistance programs.
Patient Assistance Programs
Many pharmaceutical companies have patient assistance programs (PAPs) to offset the cost of prescription medications for individuals without insurance or with insufficient insurance coverage. If Alto is your pharmacy partner for HIV treatment or prevention, your medication protocol may include medications manufactured by Gilead, which offers the PAP outlined below.
If your medications are manufactured by a different company, contact them directly to learn about any available financial assistance including PAPs.
Gilead's Advancing Access® Patient Assistance Program
Gilead's Advancing Access Patient Assistance Program provides medication free of charge to individuals without insurance who meet program eligibility criteria. There are several ways to learn if you are eligible:
Call 1-800-226-2056 (Monday-Friday, 9 am to 8 pm EST)
Print the enrollment form and submit it via fax
Copay savings cards
Copay savings cards from pharmaceutical manufacturers can help offset the cost of prescription medications for individuals with insurance. If Alto is your pharmacy partner for HIV treatment or prevention, your medication protocol may include medications manufactured by Gilead or ViiV Healthcare, which offer the copay savings cards below.
If your medications are manufactured by a different company, contact them directly to learn about any available financial assistance including copay savings cards.
Gilead’s Advancing Access copay savings card
Gilead also offers a copay savings card for individuals with insurance to reduce the cost of copays. Those who are enrolled in any state or federally funded prescription medication program such as Medicare Part D and Medicaid, or who are in the Medicare Part D prescription coverage gap, are not eligible.
Learn more about program eligibility and terms and conditions.
ViiVConnect Savings Card Program
The ViiVConnect Savings Card Program helps eligible individuals with commercial insurance save on copay costs for select ViiV Healthcare medications. Those who are enrolled in any state or federally funded prescription medication program such as Medicare Part D and Medicaid, or who are in the Medicare Part D prescription coverage gap, are not eligible.
Learn more about program eligibility and terms and conditions.
If you do not have insurance coverage of prescription medications, contact 1-844-588-3288 to learn about additional financial assistance opportunities from ViiV.
Additional resources
The PAN Foundation
Created to help individuals living with chronic health conditions access the treatment they need, the PAN Foundation offers financial assistance for medication costs, copays, and insurance premiums.
Learn what financial assistance you are eligible for.
Ready, Set, PrEP
The Ready, Set, PrEP program provides PrEP at no cost to eligible individuals without insurance coverage of prescription medications.
Learn more about program eligibility and the application process.
Your financial well-being is our priority
At Alto, we understand how stressful it can be to navigate insurance coverage benefits and savings opportunities. We prioritize your financial wellness, working with your doctor, your insurance (if applicable), and any third party savings programs that you may qualify for to make ART or PrEP as affordable as possible. In addition to automatically applying coupon savings, we’ll connect you with any outside programs that require you to apply directly.
We also offer free, same-day delivery to make it as easy as possible to stay on track with treatment, and our dedicated HIV support team is here to answer any questions you may have about ART or PrEP. Reach out any time via phone at 1-800-874-5881, or in-app messaging.
This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
All third party trademarks (including logos and icons) referenced by Alto Pharmacy remain the property of their respective owners. Unless specifically identified as such, Alto’s use of third party trademarks does not indicate any relationship, sponsorship or endorsement between Alto and the owners of these trademarks.
