Tori Samuel (L) and Michael Emanuel Rajner lead a protest outside the Historic Florida Capitol on Feb. 18, 2026, to protest the ADAP cuts.(Photo by Christine Sexton/Florida Phoenix)
A threatened financial deficit in a state program that helps 32,000 people with HIV and AIDS purchase life-saving drugs has been shored up now that Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed HB 697 into law March 24.
The bill appropriates about $31 million to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) over the next three months and directs the Florida Department of Health to make the program available through June 30 to people with incomes at or below 400% of the federal poverty level. That’s $63,840 annually for an individual.
The new law prohibits the DOH from providing ADAP services through health insurers. All ADAP medications must be directly dispensed to clients. Additionally, the law makes clear that clients can only take medications listed on the March 1 ADAP formulary. That formulary, notably, does not include Biktarvy, a once-daily pill.
DeSantis, known for making bill signing ceremonies into lengthy media events, signed the legislation without any fanfare.
He signed it one day after a Leon County Circuit Court judge denied the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s request for an injunction to block the significant changes the DeSantis administration is making to the program, which it purports faces a $120 million shortfall for calendar year 2026.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Governor DeSantis and the dedicated team of bipartisan legislators who leaned in to ensure Floridian living with HIV had access to life-saving medications,” Fort Lauderdale community activist Michael Emanuel Rajner said in a text to the Phoenix.
It was Rajner, and not the DeSantis administration, who brought the ADAP funding shortfall to legislators’ attention during the 60-day regular legislative session.
Rajner helped stage rallies at the Capitol and the DOH Tallahassee headquarters. He met with legislators — from freshmen to Senate President Ben Albritton and House Speaker Daniel Perez — throughout the weeks to discuss the program, how it works, and how the DOH, without public input, drastically cut back income eligibility for the program, resulting in about 12,000 people losing access to benefits.
Rajner was credited with the Legislature’s decision to shore up the funding when members passed HB 697.
The AHF, which unsuccessfully challenged the DeSantis administration in state administrative and and circuit court, released a statement following the bill signing.
“For 10 weeks, 12,000 Floridians living with HIV did not know if they could fill their next prescription. Today, they can,” said Esteban Wood, AHF’s director of advocacy and legislative affairs.
There’s more
ADAP is funded with federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grants. States receive federal grants and drug rebate money — the latter making up the bulk of state program budgets — to, among other things, help pay for medications and support community groups and specific populations, such as women and children.
Congress has kept key drug assistance funding at $900.3 million annually since 2014 but enrollment in state ADAP programs jumped by 30% from 2022 to 2024, in part because states cut off pandemic-era Medicaid assistance. As of January, at least 18 states have pulled back their ADAPs in some way, according to a March 2 analysis by health research group KFF and a report by the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors, which offers consultation for states.
In addition to the appropriation and ADAP program directions, HB 697 requires the DOH to pass emergency rules to incorporate the changes to ADAP outlined in the bill.
The emergency rules, which the state published last week before DeSantis signed the bill into law, will stay in effect until June 30.
The bill requires the DeSantis administration to be more transparent about the ADAP program, its funding streams, and its costs.
Several lawmakers, including Orlando Democratic Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith and Miami Republican Sen. Alexis Calatayud, criticized the DeSantis administration for not being more forthcoming with the financial information.
Specifically, the bill requires the DOH to detail all federal revenues and expenditures including manufacturer rebates, enrollment figures by county, insurance status, prescription use by drug class, and any projected funding shortfalls. The first monthly report is due April 1.
It’s temporary
Like the emergency rules, the $31 million in ADAP funding and prohibition on the state providing ADAP services through insurance remain in effect until June 30.
What happens thereafter could depend on the state budget, which lawmakers must return to Tallahassee to craft and pass.
While Rajner is grateful for the additional funds, he is committed to lobbying the Legislature to fully restore the ADAP program, which means reinstating premium assistance for ADAP clients and restoring access to Biktarvy.
“We will continue to advocate for full restoration of the state’s ADAP program in the budget talks,” Rajner said.
Jon Harris Maurer, Equality Florida’s public policy director, also said the fight to keep the program intact will continue.
“This is a powerful reminder of what’s possible when people refuse to stay silent. Because people living with HIV, providers, and other advocates spoke out and demanded action, more than 10,000 Floridians will continue receiving the medications they rely on. But let’s be clear, the fight isn’t over. Lawmakers must follow through with long-term funding in the state budget to ensure that this does not become a public health crisis once again,” he said in a written statement.
This story is courtesy of Florida Phoenix.
Florida Phoenix is a nonprofit news site, free of advertising and free to readers, covering state government and politics with a staff of five journalists located at the Florida Press Center in downtown Tallahassee. Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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