LA County’s HIV prevention work threatened by federal funding cuts 

Dozens of healthcare providers contracted to do HIV prevention work in L.A. County are urging state lawmakers to step in and cover millions in anticipated federal cuts to their life-saving programs.

L.A. County’s Department of Public Health sent notice to 39 organizations that their contracts to provide STD and HIV prevention services will be terminated on May 31 because they depend on more than $19 million in CDC grant funding that the Trump administration has signaled it is likely to eliminate.

Health officials estimate the federal funding reductions would fuel a 40% surge in costly new HIV infections and an increase in preventable deaths across L.A. County. Tens of thousands in the region rely on these programs to access HIV testing or Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) medication to reduce infection risk.

“Without resources, these services cannot be sustained,” said Louise McCarthy, president of the Community Clinic Association of L.A. County. “We are calling for urgent action to prevent the collapse of California’s HIV prevention infrastructure before lives are lost and decades of progress are undone.”

A statewide coalition of HIV health providers called End the Epidemics is asking California lawmakers to allocate more than $60 million in the state’s 2026 fiscal year budget to sustain HIV prevention programs, including those in L.A. County.

Federal funding sources account for about two-thirds of the L.A. County Department of Public Health’s overall budget, and there is uncertainty around much of that funding as the Trump administration looks to cut costs and restructure the Department of Health and Human Services.

Providers whose county HIV prevention contracts were terminated include the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the Los Angeles LGBT Center and APLA Health — formerly called AIDS Project Los Angeles.

“Calls to the CDC have gotten no response, because there aren't people there to answer the phone or respond to emails,” said Philip Curtis, APLA Health’s director of government affairs. “So, we're adrift and waiting for further notice from the feds one way or the other.”

Federal signals

Last month, President Donald Trump’s team drafted a plan that included cutting all of the CDC’s prevention work, as well as its HIV prevention division, according to a preliminary budget document reviewed by the Washington Post.

Earlier this month, the Trump administration released a budget proposal for 2026 that cuts $3.59 billion from the CDC, the agency currently in charge of 90% of all federal HIV prevention funding.

“These cuts are broad, cruel, and devastating,” the national nonprofit AIDS United said in a statement demanding Congress restore the funding.

Those federal cuts appear to include the CDC’s high impact HIV Prevention and Surveillance Cooperative Agreement, which provides $19.45 million in funding for L.A. County HIV prevention efforts.

The county’s public health department has maintained this agreement with the CDC for nearly three decades. County health officials said it’s helped to reduce new HIV infections in L.A.County from nearly 7,000 per year in the 1990s to 1,400 last year.

Last year was the first in a five-year cycle of HIV funding for jurisdictions nationwide. Typically, L.A. County would have received notices by now that the grants are being renewed for a second year. But those notices never arrived, forcing the county to terminate the contracts.

The L.A. County Public Health Department is urging Congress and the Trump administration to “carefully review and consider the impacts of the proposed cuts and governmental restructuring.”

LAist contacted the CDC, Department of Health and Human Services and the Office for Management and Budget for comment, but did not receive a response.

Providers react

L.A. County leaders say they had no choice but to terminate the grants, blaming the Trump administration for the uncertainty and likely reductions.

“The federal government cutting HIV prevention funding is unconscionable,” Supervisor Lindsey Horvath wrote on X. “They want to divide us — which is why we must be united in demanding they unfreeze and fully fund these critical programs.”

Some local providers blamed the county for pulling out.

“At a time when local leadership should be standing up to the Trump administration's efforts to dismantle public health infrastructure, the County is instead choosing to act prematurely — defunding lifesaving services for countless Angelenos who rely on them,” Joe Holldendoner, CEO of LA’s LGBT Center, posted on social media.

Others understand the county’s decision.

“It could turn out that L.A. County was prescient in seeing that the funding was not going to be forthcoming and, and it could not be left on the hook for programs it didn't have the funding to support,” said Curtis.

The American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR) projects that there will be more than 75,529 new HIV infections in the U.S. over the next five years if federal HIV prevention is cut in half. Based on those estimates, the L.A. County Department Public Health estimates a 40% increase in infections, with about 2,000 new infections a year in L.A. County, compared to the current level of 1,400.

An HIV diagnosis leads to about a $500,000 lifetime healthcare cost, according to health officials.

What’s next?

Providers have been assured that the contract terminations can be reversed if the federal funding ends up coming through.

Absent federal action, providers are calling on state legislators to step in and cover HIV prevention programs, using the AIDS Drug Assistance Program rebate fund.

The situation is urgent because the CDC’s contracts with L.A. County expire May 31. While providers hope the state can step in, California’s budget doesn’t start until July, which would still leave these programs unfunded in June.

On Monday, the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus sent a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom, urging him to authorize an emergency disbursement of an additional $5 million from the AIDS Drug Assistance Program rebate fund to sustain HIV prevention services statewide through June 30.

The L.A. County Commission on HIV did not respond to request for comment, but is scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss HIV prevention needs. The county’s final budget deliberations are set for late June.

Meanwhile, the city of L.A. is also preparing to finalize a budget that would eliminate more than one-third of the Department on Disability’s staff, which may also cut HIV prevention programs, according to the department. There is a final L.A. city budget hearing on May 21.