The DeSantis administration proposed rule changes Wednesday that would allow it pare back who qualifies for the federally funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) and limit the benefits available.
Once adopted, the proposed rules would implement previously announced changes the DOH said would take effect March 1 to ADAP to avert a projected $120 million 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.
The DOH previously announced it also 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.
In a written statement, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation noted the omission, saying the DeSantis administration “has left it unclear whether it will cut off funding and access to lifesaving HIV medications for thousands of Floridians,” in alleged violation of state law.
“AHF is prepared to seek an immediate injunction if the Department of Health acts prematurely,” the statement notes.
The foundation has challenged the proposed changes in state administrative court, arguing the DOH, run by state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, couldn’t alter the program until it implemented the necessary rules, a process that requires the state to solicit public input.
Administrative Law Judge W. David Watkins agreed to an expedited hearing, scheduled for Feb. 18.
Citing Florida Statutes, attorneys for the DOH on Wednesday also filed notice in state administrative court announcing the agency is moving ahead with rulemaking and that, “accordingly, this matter is automatically stayed.”
Florida law does allow an administrative law judge to resume a stayed proceeding for good cause. Otherwise, under the law, challenges are on hold as long as the state is “proceeding expeditiously and in good faith.”
ADAP is funded with federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funds. 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.
One-day window opensIn publishing the proposed rule changes, the state opened a 21-day window in which a public hearing can be requested and public comments submitted to the state.
Although the DeSantis administration is now following the rulemaking requirements, it initially tried to “ignore” them, AHF Director of Advocacy Legislative Affairs Esteban Wood said.
“The public now has the right to comment, demand transparency, and challenge the state’s financial claims,” Wood said in a prepared statement.
Meanwhile, a second complaint, filed by AHF attorneys against the DeSantis administration, remains pending in the Leon County Circuit Court. That suit seeks to obtain DOH files containing information about the purported $120 million budget shortfall bedeviling the ADAP.
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