24-03-2025
Federal funding for HIV testing, medication could go away in Austin due to DOGE cuts
Key funding to help lessen the spread of HIV in Austin could be affected as part of the federal Department of Government Efficiency's funding cuts at the Centers for Disease Control and the Prevention and at the Health and Human Services Administration.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that HIV prevention and treatment funding, which is about $1 billion a year at the CDC, was among the cuts being considered by the Health and Human Services Administration.
This year, the Kind Clinic — which has two Austin clinics and whose clients are mainly members of the underserved and under- or uninsured LGBTQ+ community — was expected to receive $1.3 million in federal funds for HIV prevention services and $800,000 in federal grants for HIV treatment services that come through the city of Austin and the Brazos Valley Council of Governments.
Austin and Texas have historically been a city and state to watch when it comes to people with HIV and new HIV infections, said Christopher Hamilton, CEO of the Kind Clinic. According to data from AIDSVu, Travis County has 7,645 people living with HIV, with a prevalence rate that is 398 cases per 100,000, higher than the national average of 388 cases per 100,000. Texas has a prevalence rate of 425 cases per 100,000. Texas also has a higher rate of new cases, 20, compared with the national average of 18, and Travis County has an even higher rate at 21.
"Elimination of funding would be catastrophic," Hamilton said.
Clinics are losing funding for HIV prevention drugs and screenings. Here's what that means
U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, wrote a letter Wednesday to CDC acting Director Dr. Susan Monarez to question the funding cuts in the middle of a measles outbreak in Texas and asked for an accounting of how the CDC is handling that outbreak and the lack of reliable scientific information coming from the federal government about measles.
At least 750 people at the CDC have been fired by DOGE. Information about HIV on the CDC website was taken down by the Trump administration and then had to be restored by a court order.
Some of the information on the CDC's HIV website now has this disclaimer: "Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 11, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it."
Access to accurate information and treatment is important to patients, Hamilton said. The Austin Kind Clinic locations had more than 10,000 patients last year. Much of the federal funding allowed the clinic to provide HIV testing and counseling, as well as free medication to prevent transmission before a person is infected and medication to prevent transmission after a person has tested positive for the infection.
Why are syphilis rates rising in Austin? What you need to know about surge in cases.
"We're absolutely going to work our hardest to continue the services, to fund testing, prevention and treatment," Hamilton said. "We have a 10-year history of preventing and treating HIV. We're not going to stop."
HIV funding already has been hit hard for the Kind Clinic when a change in the way a drug manufacturer handled reimbursements took away more than $9 million in annual funding in 2022.
Hamilton said the clinic will continue to rely on funding from multiple sources. It could continue to come from local government entities, but those entities might not have federal government money to pass along resources.
Hamilton estimates it costs $6,000 annually for one person to be on prophylactic medicine to prevent becoming infected. For people already infected, it costs between $12,000 and $15,000 for a person to take medication that reduces the risk of passing HIV to another person.
Currently, the Kind Clinic does not take insurance and offers free or minimal cost health care. It is looking at taking health insurance in the future, because some patients do have insurance but can't afford the co-pays or don't feel comfortable in another clinic setting. Taking insurance would require hiring more people to negotiate with insurance. Already, it has three people who only work on obtaining prior authorizations for the medications it prescribes.
"That's not the best use of funds that are already limited," Hamilton said.
This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Federal funding for HIV treatment could be going away due to DOGE cuts
