Overview
- Emergency rules lower AIDS Drug Assistance Program eligibility from 400% to 130% of the federal poverty level and restrict coverage of the widely used HIV medication Biktarvy.
- Insurance premium assistance is being eliminated, with advocates estimating roughly 12,000–16,000 Floridians could lose medication access or payment support.
- A state administrative judge lifted a pause that had stalled changes, and the department filed the emergency rule one day before a scheduled hearing in the prior challenge.
- The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has launched a new administrative challenge and is seeking an emergency injunction in Leon County circuit court, with an evidentiary hearing set for March 11.
- Lawmakers in both chambers proposed funding to restore ADAP, but any appropriation would not arrive before July and could still face a veto, raising the risk of treatment interruptions that health experts warn could fuel viral rebound and transmission.