November 17, 2025 — Treatment Action Group (TAG) is profoundly disappointed and outraged at the lack of healthcare protections for people living with and affected by HIV, tuberculosis (TB), and hepatitis C (HCV) in the bill to end the US government shutdown. With only a promise of a future vote to extend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits, millions of people now face unaffordable health insurance costs. As we approach World AIDS Day on December 1, we demand that legislators defend access and affordability of healthcare, especially for those with preexisting conditions.

Several of the fiscal year 2026 appropriations bills, which were put on hold during the shutdown, have deeply concerning cuts to vital public health programs. The Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) bill marked up by the House of Representatives includes these dire cuts to the health of people in the U.S. and around the world:

• $456 million cut from the National Institutes of Health (NIH);
• $34.3 million cut and block granted for CDC’s TB Elimination, Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), and Opioid Related Infectious Diseases funding lines;
• Full elimination of CDC’s Division of HIV Prevention, a cut of $1.014 billion;
• Full elimination of CDC’s Global HIV/AIDS and Global TB Programs;
• Full elimination of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) program started under the first Trump administration; and
• $525.4 million cut from the Ryan White AIDS Care program.

Fortunately, the Senate had earlier released its own version of the LHHS bill which increased NIH’s budget by $400 million, maintained flat funding for most of the rest of these programs, and kept the CDC’s divisions separately funded; though it shamefully included a $10 million cut to STD Prevention.

These politically-motivated funding cuts are just the latest attack on lifesaving public health programs and research that benefit our communities. This is a critical time in the fight against the pandemics of HIV, TB, and HCV, and we will not allow austerity to take the lives of our loved ones in the US and across the globe. TAG has been part of the activist fight for decades to build and sustain these federal programs, and we will increase momentum to support them through these dark days.

We urge our supporters and partners to contact your members of Congress and demand full funding for HIV, TB, and HCV programs and research throughout HHS and other domestic and global health agencies. Additional resources for our requests are at this link.

The struggle continues but together, in solidarity, we can win.

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