Save HIV Funding Statement on LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee FY26 Spending Bill

House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee Proposes FY26 Spending Bill That Would Gut Domestic HIV Programs, Putting People Nationwide at Risk of HIV Infection, Illness and Death

For Media Inquiries Contact Jeremiah Johnson at [email protected] 

Statement

Yesterday, the House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Subcommittee released its FY26 spending bill that the Subcommittee is expected to consider today at 5:00 p.m. The Save HIV Funding Campaign decries this bill that would slash approximately $2 billion from domestic HIV programs, eviscerating the federal response to the HIV epidemic – putting people’s lives and health at risk – while increasing medical costs.

The bill would eliminate HIV prevention programs at CDC that serve states and localities nationwide by providing HIV testing and pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP)– highly effective medications that prevent HIV 99% of the time when taken as directed. The bill also would turn funding for STI clinics into block grants, eliminate Minority AIDS Initiative funding, and slash $525 million from the Ryan White Program at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which provides comprehensive, effective HIV medical care and treatment for more than 550,000 people each year. The House bill would eliminate Ryan White Program support for HIV medical and dental clinics across the nation, including services for women, children, and families. Funding for provider HIV education and training also would be eliminated, making HIV services less accessible, especially in rural communities. The bill also would wipe out the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative that has reduced new HIV cases by 21% in jurisdictions that receive EHE funds – 3.5 times better than jurisdictions that do not receive these funds. People rely on critical HIV services to stay healthy, and in turn they are able to live, work, and care for their families and communities. The House majority is proposing cuts that would reignite the HIV epidemic in the U.S. The Senate Appropriations Committee, however, proposed and passed a bipartisan bill that would maintain funding for these programs, permitting people to access essential care as they do now.   

The House bill betrays and undermines the last four decades of work in which U.S. research developed HIV prevention, care, and treatment that have made HIV a much more preventable disease and changed an HIV diagnosis from a death sentence into a manageable, chronic condition that allows people with HIV to live a normal lifespan and work and care for their communities and families. It also is a betrayal of the hard work of people living with HIV, their medical providers, researchers, allies, and advocates who have developed systems of effective, cost-efficient prevention, care, treatment and research, and have ensured that there is robust funding to support access.   

This bill also betrays the Trump Administration’s earlier goal of Ending the HIV Epidemic. With continued efforts and support, this goal could be achieved within our lifetimes because the systems and tools have been developed and with appropriate resources could be fully deployed to prevent HIV and effectively manage and treat it. It is a cruel about face for the first Trump Administration to implement this remarkable vision of ending HIV in the U.S. – a proposal which achieved robust, bipartisan Congressional and community support – only for the second Trump Administration and House leadership to intentionally destroy this remarkable, legacy-defining initiative. Advocates know from experience that #CutsKill, and that the stripping of critical, life saving services for people in every community in our country will result in more illness and death.

The HIV community knows that Silence = Death; and the Save HIV Funding Campaign along with its members and allies will not be silent while conservative Congressional leaders rob people of their health and lives. The House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee will meet at 5:00 p.m. today. We urge House appropriators to reject and vote against this bill and call strongly for their Congressional colleagues to do so as well.  People living with and vulnerable to HIV, advocates, providers, researchers, allies, and communities nationwide will continue to fight for ready access to essential HIV services for everybody who needs them. The past 40 years have shown that action equals life: we can unquestionably save lives, improve health, and cut costs, but to do so we will need the voice of every champion and ally raised together, demanding that our nation stay on a winning path by fully funding our existing progress toward ending the HIV epidemic.