TULSA, Okla. — If President Trump's one big beautiful bill passes, medicaid spending could be heavily cut -- affecting people who rely on government funds for HIV treatment and prevention. Specialists said this could impact HIV patients in Oklahoma if the bill passes.
Joey Scudder-Barfield is an outreach specialist at Hope. They're a health clinic near 51st and Yale. Scudder-Barfield said HIV prevention funding couldn't be more critical.
"These funds keep people alive, that's the root of it, it keeps people alive," said Scudder-Barfield.
He said that if the bill passed, this could result in cuts to preventive medications and HIV testing kits. Scudder-Barfield said the issue hit close to home.
"If the funds are cut, my spouse will lose a lot of programs, and I look at the potential of losing my spouse; he may die, so those funds help keep people alive," said Scudder-Barfield.
WATCH: 'These funds keep people alive': HIV prevention funding at risk
Hope staff said they receive kits for free due to government funding. As a nonprofit, Scudder-Barfield said they would have to pay for them, which would hurt their budget.
Scudder-Field told 2 News that they tested 1,300 people in 2024 for HIV. Hope's communications director, Jeff Burdge, said without the funding, the future looked uncertain.
"We don't want to shut these doors, we want to make sure they stay open and we can help as many people as we can," said Burdge.
The Senate is expected to debate the bill once it comes to the floor and hold a test in late June of 2025. Scudder-Barfield said he hopes the funding stays.
"I was there in the past, I saw it on the news, the number of people that were dying… if the funds are eliminated, then we're going to see that again, and it's going to become a bigger problem," said Scudder-Barfield.
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