Section 76 PREP at Correctional Facilities
Chapter 127 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 17D the following section:-
Section 17E. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:
"County correctional facility", as defined in paragraph (f) of section 1 of chapter 125.
"Health care provider", as defined in section 1 of chapter 111.
"HIV", human immunodeficiency virus.
"HIV prevention drug", any pre-exposure prophylaxis drug approved for the prevention of HIV by the federal Food and Drug Administration.
(b) The superintendent of each state correctional facility and the administrator of each county correctional facility shall ensure that within a reasonable time prior to release, each inmate of a state correctional facility and county correctional facility who has been committed to a term of not less than 30 days and who is negative for HIV infection, shall be:
(i) provided information and counseling about HIV prevention drugs to prevent HIV acquisition;
(ii) evaluated for the benefit of an HIV prevention drug, with the consent of the inmate;
(iii) provided with a supply of an HIV prevention drug prior to release, to an eligible inmate with their consent; provided, however, that the supply of an HIV prevention drug shall, at the inmate's option, include administration immediately prior to release of the longest duration injectable form of an HIV prevention drug, a 90-day supply of an oral HIV prevention drug, any other clinically appropriate HIV prevention drug or a prescription for such supply to be filled post-release; and
(iv) provided with information about requirements for medical monitoring after release to ensure the safe and effective ongoing use of HIV prevention drugs; provided, however, that each state correctional facility and county correctional facility shall develop and implement a plan to connect each inmate receiving an HIV prevention drug to post-release medical and other services to ensure ongoing HIV prevention therapy upon release.
(c) Any pre-release supply of an HIV prevention drug shall be provided at no cost to the inmate.
(d) Each state correctional facility and county correctional facility evaluating an inmate for an HIV prevention drug pursuant to subsection (b) shall ensure that information obtained for such evaluation shall be kept confidential between the inmate and medical provider and shall not be shared with security or administrative staff.
(e) The department of correction, in consultation with the department of public health, shall promulgate regulations or issue guidance for the implementation of this section.