TALLAHASSEE, Fla. \u2014 Florida lawmakers are taking rare unanimous action to fund the state\u2019s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, after more than 10,000 Floridians living with HIV-AIDS were told they would be cut off.<\/p>\n
South Florida resident Michael Rajner, who has been living with HIV-AIDS since 1995, returned from Tallahassee after helping push Democrats, Republicans and Gov. Ron DeSantis to pass a gap funding measure. <\/p>\n
The move will help about 16,000 Floridians keep access to HIV-AIDS medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout these medications people will get sick will end up in the hospital,\u201d Rajner said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, the Florida Department of Health said it was cutting eligibility for the program, citing a $120 million shortfall driven by rising insurance premiums and federal funding cuts.<\/p>\n
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation filed a lawsuit in response.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe cost of treating patients who come in to emergency rooms across the state is so much higher,\u201d said AHF spokesperson Esteban Wood.<\/p>\n
Wood called the new funding temporary.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bridge funding, this band aid, is only getting us through June 30th. Long term stability is the solution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Robert Boo, who has already been dealing with federal funding cuts to HIV prevention programs like those at the Pride Center in Wilton Manors, said the impact has been severe.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been devastating,\u201d Boo said.<\/p>\n
Services there include free and confidential HIV testing and linkage to care, but Boo said staff layoffs and reliance on donations have followed the cuts.<\/p>\n
Rajner said keeping people in the program is key to stopping the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn individual who is compliant with their HIV treatment the virus is un-transmittable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that Broward and Miami-Dade counties lead the state in HIV cases.<\/p>\n
The AHF spokesperson also noted that a large portion of funding for the AIDS Drug Assistance Program comes from drug rebate programs.<\/p>\n
Activists like Rajner plan to return to Tallahassee in April as lawmakers work on a new state budget.<\/p>\n
\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n
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