📊 This Month’s Health Equity Monitor Highlights
⏸️ Policy Alert: The Government Shutdown Shadow
While the data in this month’s Health Equity Monitor reflects activity between September 5 and October 4, 2025, it does not yet include the impacts of the recent federal government shutdown (which began October 1, 2025).
However, the shutdown poses immediate and serious risks to HIV and Medicaid programs:
Disruption to CDC surveillance and reporting, which could further delay PrEP and HIV incidence data.
Interruption in federal grant disbursements to community health clinics and state HIV programs.
Medicaid and Medicare processing delays, especially affecting low-income, disabled, or elderly populations.
Staff furloughs in key health agencies (HRSA, NIH, SAMHSA), undermining technical support and oversight.
The relative stability we see in this month’s snapshot may be short-lived — the coming weeks could deepen the challenges already emerging in our data.
📊 This Month’s Health Equity Monitor Highlights
Date Range: September 5 – October 4, 2025
Each month, we’ll spotlight the latest data and stories that shape health equity in the South — including people living with and without HIV, rural residents, older adults, and low-income families dependent on Medicaid.
1️⃣ Care Access ↓ Slight Decline
In Atlanta and nearby counties, community clinics reported fewer pop-up testing events, reduced weekday hours, and rising wait times.
Reduced outreach means delayed diagnoses for both chronic and infectious conditions — magnifying existing disparities.
2️⃣ Prevention and Coverage → Uneven
The CDC’s paused PrEP coverage reporting leaves blindspots in tracking who has lost access to prevention.
Simultaneously, new Medicaid redetermination policies and eligibility restrictions under HR1 threaten to remove coverage from thousands — including those with chronic illnesses.
3️⃣ Funding Risk ↑ Increasing
Federal debates continue over $2 billion in potential HIV program cuts for FY 2026.
Local providers brace for cascading effects: fewer outreach contracts, reduced medication subsidies, staff layoffs hitting smaller clinics hardest.
⚖️ What This Means for Health Equity
Innovation and compassion are not enough if access keeps shrinking.
From HIV prevention to primary care, Medicaid remains the lifeline for millions — especially for people of color, older adults, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ folks.
When supports are defunded or eligibility narrowed, it’s not abstract — it’s people losing essential care.
🗣️ Coming Soon: Voices of Resistance
Beginning this fall, we’ll launch Voices of Resistance — a storytelling and interview series featuring advocates, activists, and people impacted by these health system shifts.
They will share how decisions made behind closed doors ripple into daily life — and how communities organize, resist, and hold hope.
🔗 How You Can Help
Contact Malcolm Reid - malcolm@unityarcadvocacy.com if you want to share your story on the impacts of HR1, HIV Cuts or the Government shutdown
Share: Use #HealthEquityNow, #WeKeepUsHealthy, and #VoicesOfResistance
🕊️ Closing Thought
Health equity is not just a healthcare issue — it’s a justice issue.
Even as budgets tighten, systems change, and policies shift, we keep us healthy — through storytelling, advocacy, and collective resistance.