Virginia's HIV funding cuts reach Chesterfield — and where residents can still get help

TL;DR: Virginia cut roughly two-thirds of its Ryan White funding for HIV clinics and case management in 2025, then partially restored $13.2 million this June — but patients are still struggling to keep care and prescriptions on track. In Chesterfield County, where 943 residents were living with HIV as of 2023, that care runs mostly through Richmond-area clinics hit by the cuts. Here's what happened, and where local residents can get help.

The story

Virginia sharply cut the money that keeps its HIV safety net running last year, and while lawmakers have since restored part of it, people living with HIV — including hundreds in Chesterfield County — are still feeling the effects.

The cuts hit the state's Ryan White Part B program, which pays for HIV clinics and case management for low-income, uninsured, and underinsured patients. The Virginia Department of Health reduced that clinic funding by roughly two-thirds — from about $29 million in 2024 to about $9.7 million in 2025 — and trimmed the categories of covered services from 21 to seven. Case management, housing, food, transportation, and mental-health support were among the services cut. Notably, the state protected the medication side — the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, known in Virginia as VA MAP — so prescriptions themselves kept flowing even as the surrounding support was stripped away.

The shortfall was largely self-inflicted, lawmakers said. A VDH billing error meant the state had over-collected drug rebates from manufacturer Gilead between 2021 and 2023; once corrected, annual rebate revenue fell by nearly half — from about $32 million in 2023 to just under $17 million in 2024 — and the state now owes Gilead roughly $16.7 million. Expiring federal pandemic-era insurance subsidies added to the strain.

In June 2026, the General Assembly restored $13.2 million — $6.6 million a year for two years — reportedly the first time Virginia has funded Ryan White programs with state general-fund dollars. But providers stress the fix is partial: it falls several million dollars short of what was pulled, and the damage to clinic capacity was already done. Across the state, 14 of 27 HIV organizations had ended case management, and three Richmond-area clinics — including the combined Richmond-Henrico health department — stopped HIV case management entirely. As of early July, some patients reported being weeks away from running out of medication amid recertification and appointment backlogs.

How it reaches Chesterfield

Chesterfield County had 943 residents living with HIV as of the state's most recent surveillance data (2023), with 56 newly diagnosed that year — up from 30 the year before. Chesterfield does not have its own Ryan White HIV treatment clinic; local residents who are uninsured generally get their HIV care through Richmond-area providers, several of which absorbed the cuts:

• VCU Health's Ryan White / Infectious Disease Clinic in Richmond — Virginia's largest HIV clinic and the region's provider of last resort for low-income patients.
• Daily Planet Health Services, a Richmond community health center that offers HIV care and medications on a sliding scale.
• Health Brigade in Richmond, which offers free HIV testing and case management but saw its own case-management funding cut sharply in 2025.

The Chesterfield Health District (9501 Lucy Corr Circle) provides confidential HIV testing and serves as a referral point into VA MAP and Ryan White care, though it is not a full treatment clinic.

Where to get help

• Medications (uninsured): Virginia Medication Assistance Program (VA MAP) — enrollment line 855-362-0658. Eligibility: HIV-positive Virginia residents with income up to 500% of the federal poverty level and limited or no insurance.
• Local testing and referrals: Chesterfield Health District, (804) 748-1691.
• Ongoing HIV care: VCU Health HIV services, (804) 828-6163.

Why it matters: Consistent HIV treatment keeps the virus suppressed — protecting patients' health and reducing transmission. When the support around those medications frays, people can fall out of care, and the consequences land on residents here at home, not just in a statewide budget line.

Sources

• WHRO / Virginia Mercury — Virginians living with HIV struggle to get drugs after health care cuts (July 1, 2026)
• Cardinal News — General Assembly restores some HIV funding (June 25, 2026)
• WHRO — Billing error means VDH owes millions to an HIV drug manufacturer (Feb. 17, 2026)
• Virginia Department of Health — 2023 HIV Surveillance Annual Report