FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — More than 12,000 Floridians living with HIV will again have access to critical medications after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed emergency legislation reversing recent cuts to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
The bipartisan measure was passed unanimously by both chambers of the Florida Legislature, and it provides $30.9 million in bridge funding through June 30, 2026.
The legislation restores the program’s income eligibility to 400% of the federal poverty level and requires the Department of Health to provide monthly financial reporting requirements to legislative leadership, starting April 1.
“For ten weeks, 12,000 Floridians living with HIV did not know if they could fill their next prescription. Today, they can,” said Esteban Wood, director of advocacy and legislative affairs at AIDS Healthcare Foundation.
Father of deputy killed in murder-suicide and abuse survivor unite to fight officer-perpetrated violence
Four years after Hillsborough County Sheriff's Deputy Abigail Bieber was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Daniel Leyden — a fellow law enforcement officer — her father, Bruce Bieber, and a woman who survived abuse at the hands of the same man, Chynna Ratner, are now working together to prevent officer-perpetrated domestic violence.
