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Gov. DeSantis Signs Temporary Pause to AIDS Drug Program Cuts, Allowing Floridians to Access Their HIV Medication
The $30.9 million funding keeps the program serving about 28,000 Floridians living with HIV, restoring income limits but excluding the costly drug Biktarvy.
- Governor Ron DeSantis signed HB 697 on Tuesday, providing $31 million in stopgap funding to restore AIDS Drug Assistance Program eligibility through June 30.
- The Florida Department of Health cited a $120 million budget shortfall caused by federal funding cuts, dropping coverage thresholds from 400% to 130% of poverty level on March 1, impacting thousands.
- State Senator Carlos Guillermo Smith and bipartisan lawmakers championed the emergency fix after the DOH kept officials in the dark about the initial cuts affecting thousands of Floridians.
- While the legislation restores access for more than 11,000 people, it excludes coverage for Biktarvy, forcing patients to switch to multi-pill regimens that experts warn may complicate care.
- This funding serves as a temporary bridge until the Legislature passes a budget, as lawmakers must return to the Capitol to negotiate long-term solutions after the regular session ended in stalemate.
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DeSantis signs law to restore HIV medication access through June
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday signed a bill that gives low-income Floridians three more months of access to essential HIV medication. The bill funds the state’s AIDS drug assistance program (ADAP), which gets medications to low-income and uninsured people living with HIV. Every state has an ADAP, and due to stagnant federal funds and rising health care costs, those programs have been struggling. In Florida, over 10,000 HIV-positive people were a…
Sun-SentinelReposted by 
Orlando Sentinel
Orlando SentinelThousands of Floridians regain access to HIV drugs as DeSantis signs law reversing his own agency’s cuts
Florida law restores HIV/AIDS medications for thousands who’d been cut from the rolls. Widely used Biktarvy won’t be covered under a stopgap measure that runs through June 30.
·Deerfield Beach, United States
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Total News Sources15
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center6Last UpdatedBias Distribution55% Center
Bias Distribution
- 55% of the sources are Center
55% Center
L 36%
C 55%
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