By Imara Canady
TALLAHASSEE, FL — An Administrative Law Judge today ordered an emergency hearing for Wednesday, February 25, in AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s legal challenge to the Florida Department of Health’s plan to slash eligibility for the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, known as ADAP.
Beginning March 1, the Department plans to cut the qualifying income for the program from roughly $62,600 to $21,000 for an individual, dropping thousands of Floridians living with HIV from the coverage that helps them afford their medications and stay healthy.
“We filed this challenge because patients deserve answers, and the Department has not provided them,” stated Esteban Wood, AHF Director of Advocacy & Legislative Affairs. “People are scared. They are being told, with days’ notice, that the medications they depend on may no longer be covered. We have offered repeatedly to sit down and find a workable solution. That offer still stands. But we will not stand by while patients are forced to go without lifesaving medication.”
If the Administrative Law Judge lifts the procedural hold on Wednesday, a full hearing on AHF’s challenge will take place Friday, February 27. AHF has also filed a separate case in Leon County Circuit Court seeking to block the cuts from taking effect.
