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)
The House of Representatives wants to allocate $68 million in additional funding to help offset a projected shortfall in Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP).
That’s more than half of the purported $120 million shortfall the DeSantis administration says will occur if changes aren’t made to the program.
The proposed budget released Thursday night by the House shows $68 million for the Florida Department of Health for ADAP.
The money is “contingent upon the availability of commensurate federal grant funds and/or additional drug rebate,” the budget bill says.
The House’s proposed $113.6 billion budget would require the funds be held in reserve and that the DOH submit budget requests to the Legislative Budget Commission asking for the funds to be released. The commission is a 14-member joint House-Senate committee responsible for budget adjustments between legislative sessions and has authority to approve spending changes.
The House’s proposal would allow the funds to be used once the budget is signed into law, which could be before the actual start of the FY 2026-27, on July 1.
The budget also makes clear that any unspent funds as of June 30 revert to the DOH to be used in FY 26-27.
The House’s inclusion of the money additional money comes in the aftermath of rallies and protests held by AIDS activists to call attention to the DeSantis administration’s attempt to pare back ADAP eligibility and to cut services offered.
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation challenged the move in administrative court, saying the administration didn’t pass the administrative rules needed to alter the program. The DOH on Wednesday published the proposed rules, a move that put the administrative challenge on hold.
Once adopted, the rules would implement the previously announced changes the DOH said would take effect on March 1 to avert a shortfall.
Those changes — posted on the DOH website and outlined in letters sent to affected ADAP clients — would reduce income eligibility from 400% of the federal poverty level, or $63,840 annually for an individual, to 130% of the federal poverty level, or $20,748.
Another change is eliminating the premium assistance program that helps underinsured patients purchase costly drugs.
The DOH previously announced it would limit medications ADAP patients can access. It no longer would make available Biktarvy, a daily pill used to treat HIV in adults and children weighing at least 31 pounds. But the proposed rules don’t include the change.