On Tuesday June 1^st Florida will close ADAP to new enrollees.  One exception to that are pregnant women with HIV.  Pregnant women who have Medicaid or private insurance will receive their medications as usual.  Undocumented women are not eligible for Medicaid and must rely on ADAP or another payment option.   

Nita Harrelle, the Perinatal Prevention Coordinator at the Florida Department of Health said, “I am not sure how long it will take to enroll an individual into the Patient Assistance Program, but I know that pregnant women do not have a lot of time to wait while their application is being processed.” Her message to health care providers is clear. If you have an HIV-infected pregnant woman who has no means to get the prescribed antiretroviral medications (ARVs) and you encounter problems that are taking too long solve, please try to work with your local ADAP staff.  If your pregnant patient still has no access to ARVs despite your efforts, please call Nita Harrelle directly at 850-245-4444 Ext. 2565 as soon as possible.

The Florida Department of Health is committed to further decreasing the number of HIV infected babies born in our state. Without treatment, the risk of maternal-fetal transmission is 25 to 30%. With proper treatment, the risk of transmission is reduced to less than 2%. Therefore, NO HIV-infected pregnant woman in Florida will go without ARV medications, even during this crisis.