Thousands of Floridians living with HIV will keep the medication that keeps them alive, after the Florida Legislature today passed a state budget that reverses this year’s cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP). The budget returns eligibility to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, brings back the medications the Department of Health had dropped, including Biktarvy, funds the program with $75 million, and adds independent oversight.
“This is what it looks like when people living with HIV refuse to be abandoned and lawmakers listen. Florida came dangerously close to walking away from thousands of people living with HIV, and that cannot become a model anywhere else,” said Michael Weinstein, President of AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
“Treatment is how we end HIV. The health department cut it. Lawmakers gave people their lives back,” said Esteban Wood, Director of Advocacy & Legislative Affairs at AHF.
How We Got Here
The fight began in January, when the Department of Health, acting on its own, announced it would cut ADAP eligibility from 400 to 130 percent of the poverty level, end insurance premium assistance, and drop Biktarvy, the most prescribed HIV medication in the country, from the formulary. The cuts took effect in the months that followed, and more than 12,000 Floridians lost their coverage.
AHF and the people it serves refused to accept it. Together they packed hearing rooms, rallied around the state a dozen times over, told their stories to anyone who would listen, and challenged the cuts in court.
Lawmakers answered. Both parties came together to pass $30.9 million in emergency funding, which Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law in late March. This week, they finished the job. AHF thanked Senate President Ben Albritton, House Speaker Daniel Perez, Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith, Senator Alexis Calatayud, Senator Jay Trumbull, Senator Rosalind Osgood, Senator Shevrin Jones, Representative Dana Trabulsy, Representative Alex Andrade and Appropriations Chair Ed Hooper. The budget now heads to the Governor for his signature.
“For years, one pill a day has kept me alive. I should never have had to fight to keep it. But I did, and now tomorrow feels like it’s promised,” said Lorenzo Davis, an HIV advocate and ADAP client.
A Program Built to Last
The budget also strengthens accountability. It calls for an independent evaluation by the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) and regular public reporting, so its finances and results are clear to lawmakers and the public going forward.
What Was at Stake
Keeping people living with HIV on treatment is the most effective way there is to stop the virus from spreading. It keeps people healthy and protects whole communities. Cutting that care does the opposite. It means more illness and more new infections.
The budget caps direct dispense enrollment at 21,000. AHF opposes caps on HIV medication as a matter of principle. No one who needs this medicine should ever be turned away.
Looking Ahead
With the budget on its way to the Governor, AHF is focused on what comes next: ending the HIV epidemic in Florida for good. That means holding drug manufacturers accountable to lower the price of the medications they profit from, and making sure no state ever again treats the lives of people living with HIV as a line to cut.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 3 million individuals across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
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