TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV/Gray Florida Capital Bureau) – Florida lawmakers are working to find solutions after the state health department announced cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program that will affect nearly 10,000 people starting March 1.
The Florida Department of Health is cutting $120 million from the program, which provides life-saving HIV medication to eligible residents. The cuts will reduce eligibility from people at or below 400% of the Federal Poverty Level to 130% of that level.
The state says the cuts are needed because insurance premiums are rising and because of federal cuts to the Ryan White grant used to fight HIV and AIDS.
State data shows Florida has seen an increase in new HIV and AIDS diagnoses since 2020. Doctors say the changes could lead to more infections.
“All the measures that were in place to prevent that are no longer there,” said Dr. George Ellis, an Orlando Health urologist. “So I think it’s important from a medical standpoint to make sure that patients get some medication as soon as possible.”
Senate President Ben Albritton said lawmakers are taking the issue seriously and looking for ways to help.
“We’re taking this seriously. Number 1, it’s the right thing to do. And 2, I’m proud that we are,” Albritton said.
However, Albritton stopped short of committing to fully funding the program.
“I’m not going to say we are going to backfill any of this,” he said. “We are clearly looking at what are the opportunities. It may not just be funding. It may be other opportunities to provide support at some level.”
House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell said she hopes the House will support Senate efforts to address the cuts.
“It could reverse progress and we don’t wanna see that happen,” Driskell said. “We shouldn’t be putting Floridians in a death sentence because we can’t get it together and negotiate and come up with a good solution for this.”
Albritton said details still need to be worked out since lawmakers are early in the budget process.
“It won’t be because we walked away from the issue,” he said. “It will because it was larger than what we could accomplish.”
The state is encouraging people who need the medication to connect with other HIV/AIDS resources in their community.
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