Get PrEP: Cheap, Easy, and Safe Ways to Get It

If you’re at risk of HIV through drug needles or sex, a medicine called PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) could help you. It’s a safe way to prevent HIV from spreading through your body. 

PrEP requires a prescription, but there are many easy, safe, and cheap ways to get it. Here’s what you need to know.

PrEP is free through most health plans and state Medicaid programs. You won’t pay for:

• The medicine
• Follow-up doctor visits
• Extra HIV tests

Call the number on the back of your health plan card to see if PrEP is covered for you.

If you’re not insured or if your insurance doesn’t cover PrEP, free or lower cost options include:

• Co-payment assistance programs 
• Drug manufacturer co-payment assistance programs
• Patient Advocate Foundation
• State PrEP assistance programs

Once a doctor prescribes it, you can apply:

• Online
• By phone at 855-447-8410
• Through a form that you print out and have your doctor submit for you 

Before your start PrEP, you'll need a prescription from a certain doctor or clinic.

The companies that make PrEP sometimes help out with its cost. Apply at the company website:

• Gilead Advancing Access program
• ViiVConnect

Find out if you qualify for a discount or if you can get PrEP free of charge.

You don’t need to see a special HIV doctor to get PrEP. You can ask for a prescription from any:

• Doctor of medicine (MD)
• Doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO)
• Physician assistant (PA)
• Nurse practitioner (NP)

Ask any health care provider that you see on a regular basis about PrEP.

If you don’t have a personal doctor, you may be able to get PrEP at a free or low-cost clinic in your area, such as a:

• Local Planned Parenthood clinic
• Health center run by your town, city, county, or state health department
• Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs)

Find a Health Center is an online tool to help you find a clinic in your area. 

PrEP is often available at places like: 

• ERs

• Urgent care clinics

• Hospitals 

Some hospital PrEP programs may allow you to keep seeing the provider who prescribed your PrEP while you take it. Or you may have to follow up with a primary care doctor on your own for monitoring and refills. The HIV Services Locator can point you toward a PrEP provider in your area.

Most states allow you to get PrEP from an online service. After a phone call, chat, or video visit, a doctor prescribes it to you. You’ll complete an at-home HIV test kit or get a blood test at a local lab before you can fill your prescription. 

A telehealth (or “telePrEP”) service can be a great option if it’s hard to get to a clinic.

Nonprofit groups that help people with HIV and HIV prevention sometimes offer PrEP services or can at least connect you with a service. 

For instance, if you live in the San Francisco area, you can get PrEP from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

A friend or hookup might offer to share their PrEP with you, but that could hurt you both. You need tests before you start PrEP. After starting, you need regular follow-up visits with a doctor to make sure it’s safe for you. Also, for PrEP to protect against HIV, you have to take every dose. 

If your friend gives you PrEP, that means they might not be taking it as they should.

PrEP is a really safe way to protect yourself from HIV, but not everyone knows about it or can get it. Only 14% of PrEP users are Black and 17% are Hispanic. You may be less likely to know about or use PrEP if you:

• Aren’t insured
• Don’t speak English well
• Weren’t born in the U.S.

You can do your part by talking about it with your partners and friends. Spreading the word about PrEP is a great way to stop the spread of HIV.