HIV+Hep in the News

A leaked budget document suggests even deeper cuts to HIV surveillance and prevention could be in the works, he said in an email. A budget blueprint released earlier this month by the White House keeps most existing HIV care and treatment programs intact, but it still would inflict “massive” cuts to public health programs, including prevention and disease surveillance efforts, according to the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute. “People are just waiting for the next shoe to drop. … We are on shaky ground right now and very concerned,” Carl Schmid said.

Longtime leaders in advocating for HIV/AIDS funding – including the heads of two organizations who are plaintiffs in a suit against the Trump administration spurred by recent executive orders – said at a panel discussion in downtown San Francisco May 21 that their work is in dire peril. Cecilia Chung, senior director of strategic initiatives and evaluation at the Oakland-based Transgender Law Center, spoke at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club World Affairs alongside Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., a gay man who is CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation; Lance Toma, a gay man who is CEO of the San Francisco Community Health Center; and Carl Schmid, a gay man who is executive director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

The infectious disease experts are sounding the alarm as proposals to cut both domestic and global funding for HIV treatment and prevention continue to circulate the nation’s Capitol. President Donald Trump’s “skinny budget” is slim on details, but Executive Director of the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute Carl Schmid notes in a statement the proposal is silent on HIV prevention funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

By categorizing the drugs as nonessential, insurance companies and pharmacy middlemen can pocket these copay assistance funds without counting individuals’ payments toward their out-of-pocket costs, padding the company’s bottom line while burdening chronically ill patients with huge medical bills. This isn’t unusual — a 2024 study by the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, a group that advocates for patients with chronic health conditions, found that more than 100 large employers, from Target to Bank of America to Brown University, were using prescription drug vendors that classified some covered drugs as “nonessential.”

As summarized by the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization, domestic HIV care and treatment programs appear to be largely preserved, but HIV prevention is left out, the Bay Area Reporter previously reported. Most treatment-related components of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program would remain intact, but it could lose ancillary services such as dental care. AIDS housing programs are slated to take a hit. The budget proposal does not include Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding for HIV prevention, and it is not yet known whether this will be eliminated or moved to another part of HHS.