HIV/AIDS health care advocates rallied at the Capitol in Tallahassee to bring lawmakers’ attention to the cuts and to oppose them. (Photo courtesy of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation)
A state administrative judge has agreed to expedite a legal challenge to a new DeSantis administration policy that could leave as many 16,000 people with HIV and AIDS without access to prescribed medications or health insurance discounts.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins has agreed to hear the dispute regarding the changes to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program on Feb. 18. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed the complaint in state administrative court last week asking to expedite the hearing and issue a ruling before March 1, when the changes are slated to take effect.
Meanwhile, the AHF on Monday filed a second complaint, this one in Leon County Circuit Court, to obtain files from the Florida Department of Health seeking information about the purported $120 million budget shortfall the DeSantis administration says would result in the program if the changes are not made.
In letters to clients, the DOH maintained the changes are being driven by “rising health care insurance premiums nationwide and lack of additional Ryan White Grant funding.”
Its website says the “adjustments” were made to “ensure resources” for “the greatest number of individuals within our funding constraints,” and that they would help prevent a $120 million shortfall in the program.
But in a press conference Monday to announced the second legal challenge, AHF President Michael Weinstein asked why — if a lack of federal Ryan White grant funding is a driving force behind the changes — Florida “is the only state in the union that is making these types of cuts? ”
“They are misleading the public and particularly the clients who rely on this service when they tell you that there have been cuts from Washington,” Weinsten said Monday afternoon. “There have been no cuts to the AIDS drug assistance program in the federal government. You know, it’s really about time that the Department of Health stepped forward and actually give us the information.”
According to the public records lawsuit, AHF asked the DOH on Jan. 15 to produce any records relating to related deliberations and documents and the rationales and bases for the decision.
The department acknowledged receiving the request for information the next day.
AHF notified the DOH on Jan. 22 that it would seek its attorneys’ fees as allowable by law. The DOH acknowledged receiving AHF’s Jan. 22 correspondence the same day.
The AHF still hasn’t received any of the public records it requested.
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What’s going on?
Since 2007, the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, or ADAP, has been open to Florida residents who earn up to 400% of the federal poverty level, which for 2026 translates to an annual salary of $62,600 for a single person or $128,600 for a family of four.
ADAP is funded with federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funds. The program is administered in Florida by the DOH ,which is run by state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo.
DOH sent letters to ADAP clients in January notifying them that only people who earn 130% or less of the federal poverty level, which is $20,345 annually for an individual or $41,795 for a family of four, will qualify for the program beginning March 1.
Another round of DOH letters sent to clients in January announced that the state no longer would make Biktarvy, a daily pill used to treat HIV in adults and children weighing at least 31 pounds, available to ADAP clients.
The AHF administrative complaint argues the DOH — which helps administer The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program — is violating state law because it didn’t pass the requisite rules to change how the program operates.
The announcement of the cuts dovetails with the 2026 annual legislative session. HIV/AIDS advocates taken by surprise by the policy changes held rallies at the Florida Capitol and the DOH headquarters in Tallahassee last week and testified in legislative committees to bring attention to the cuts. The National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors estimates 16,000 people in Florida would lose benefits under the policy changes sought by the DeSantis administration.
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This story has been updated to reflect the filing of the circuit court lawsuit.