Several Democratic South Florida lawmakers joined health care advocates on Wednesday to denounce the Florida Health Department’s decision to reduce the number of Floridians eligible for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, a move that impacts tens of thousands of people with HIV/AIDS.
State officials said the action is being taken to prevent a shortfall of more than $120 million in the statewide prescription medication program for low-income people living with HIV. They said the changes in income eligibility requirements is driven by the failure of Congress last year to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits.
U.S. Reps Lois Frankel, D-Boca Raton, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, and Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Miramar, along with the health care advocates, are calling on Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to help cover the cost of lifesaving drugs to HIV/AIDS patients.
“The changes would strip coverage from tens of thousands of people who depend on the program to remain healthy and stable, participate in the economy and civic life, and prevent transmission,” they said before Wednesday’s virtual news conference.
The lawmakers and advocates said the state’s decision, which takes effect March 1, will leave single-person households earning more than $20,345 and four-person households earning more than $41,795 ineligible for insurance coverage assistance. They say the average lifetime treatment costs for those with HIV/AIDS can run as high as $1 million.
“DeSantis’ administration is choosing ideology and austerity over human life,” said Carl Baloney Jr., President and CEO of AIDS United, in a statement before Wednesday’s press conference. “It will result in missed doses, treatment interruption, avoidable illness, and increased transmission.”
“This is not just cruel; it is fiscally reckless,” Baloney said. “The state will pay more later in uncompensated care, hospitalizations, and new infections.”
On Tuesday, more than 100 health care advocates converged on the steps of the historic state capitol building in Tallahassee to call attention to the planned “drastic cuts” to the state’s AIDS drug assistance program.
The Fight For Our Lives rally was led by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
