AIDS

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a stopgap measure, but that fight to protect HIV medication for low-income patients will continue when lawmakers returns in April.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a measure to keep funding going for lifesaving medication. But the coverage runs out in July. Hence, the legal back-and-forth over the AIDS Drug Assistance Program continues.

The funding will restore ADAP eligibility to more than 11,000 people until the Legislature passes a budget. The state health department enacted the change March 1 citing a $120 million shortfall.

A bill that would help low-income Floridians with HIV has arrived on Gov. Ron DeSantis' desk. Should he sign it, life-saving medication would temporarily become accessible.

This week on "The Florida Roundup," we spoke with Florida Senate President Pro Tempore Jason Brodeur about the Senate’s stop-gap funding measure for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program and more.

The Hell on Heels' "Rocky Horror" cast will perform select musical numbers from the campy movie on Sunday to benefit Out of the Closet thrift stores, which help people afford HIV testing and treatment.

A bill that includes a stopgap measure to restore cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program through June 30 — the end of the fiscal year — is heading to Gov. DeSantis' desk.

An amendment to a bill on drug costs adds $31 million to restore eligibility to people in the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, but the House hasn't decided whether to support the move.

Lakeland residents face higher electric bills, while a Senate bill transferring USF Sarasota-Manatee land to New College vanishes — leaving both energy costs and campus plans in uncertainty.

The cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, which will reduce the income eligibility for aid and remove a key medication from coverage, are slated to take effect Saturday.

The AHF wants a court to resume proceedings in a legal challenge to the DeSantis administration’s move to reduce enrollment eligibility in a program that helps people purchase medications.

Michael Emanuel Rajner says lawmakers are willing to shore up a purported $120 million deficit in the medication program and the health department "needs to stand down."