COUNCIL AGENDA : 4/8/2025
FILE : 25-325
ITEM : 2.12
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND FROM: Toni J. Taber, MMC
CITY COUNCIL City Clerk
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: March 27, 2025
SUBJECT: AB 554 (M. González): Health Care Coverage: Antiretroviral Drugs, Drug Devices, and Drug Products
Recommendation
As recommended by the Rules and Open Government Committee on March 19, 2025, adopt a position of support for AB 554 (M. González) to expand Californians’ access to HIV/AIDS prevention medications.
CEQA: Not a Project, File No. PP17-008, General Procedure and Policy Making resulting in no changes to the physical environment. (Foley, Campos, and Mulcahy) [Rules Committee referral 3/19/2025 - C.1]
RULES COMMITTEE: 3/19/25
ITEM: C.1
TO: RULES AND OPEN
GOVERNMENT
COMMITTEE
FROM: Vice Mayor Pam Foley
Councilmember Pamela Campos
Councilmember Michael Mulcahy
SUBJECT: AB 554 (González): Health
care coverage: antiretroviral
drugs, drug devices, and
drug products
DATE: 3/10/25
APPROVED:
RECOMMENDATION
1. Request the City Council adopt a position of support for AB 554 (M. González) to expand Californians’ access to HIV/AIDS prevention medications.
2. Place the item on the April 8th, 2025 City Council Agenda for action.
BACKGROUND
As California faces critical challenges in safeguarding healthcare access, the time has come for San José to take a stand in ensuring that every Californian who needs it has access to the medications necessary to prevent HIV. Assemblymembers Mark González, Matt Haney, and Senator Scott Wiener have introduced vital legislation requiring all insurance companies in the state to cover all forms of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication, including the newly approved twice-a-year injectable version. This is a crucial step in protecting public health and guaranteeing that HIV prevention medication is accessible to everyone, regardless of their financial status or type of insurance coverage.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) currently mandates that health plans cover PrEP at no additional cost. Still, with the threat of the current administration in Washington, D.C., and the U.S.
Supreme Court potentially dismantling key ACA provisions, many Californians could soon lose
access to life-saving medications. As politicians push to restrict access to HIV prevention medication, we can act now to protect our communities.
Just as we’ve seen in the past with other critical health issues, leadership from cities like ours is essential. It is not enough for us to watch from the sidelines as federal protections crumble. We must assert our commitment to public health and support this legislation to ensure access to HIV prevention remains guaranteed for all. This bill will help protect our most vulnerable residents, ensuring they can access PrEP without fear of financial or insurance barriers.
We have the opportunity and the responsibility to lead on this issue. Ensuring that PrEP remains accessible is key to ending the HIV epidemic. The time to act is now.
We request that the City Council adopt a formal position supporting this critical bill. In doing so, we can show our commitment to protecting public health and ensuring that HIV prevention remains within reach for all Californians.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’
s staff members have not had, and
have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.