HIV Prevention Today: New Threats and Opportunities

Join leading legal and public health experts in marking World AIDS Day 2025 with a timely and informative webinar designed for legal professionals seeking to understand the changing landscape of HIV prevention. Our nationally respected presenters will unpack the growing barriers to access, including ongoing cuts to prevention funding, the erosion of critical public health data systems and knowledgeable leadership, and the legal uncertainties shaping nationwide access to life-saving preventive services. The session will provide an in-depth look at the Braidwood case recently before the U.S. Supreme Court and its potential implications for PrEP coverage under the ACA, and will explore the broader role litigation may play in safeguarding or challenging access to HIV prevention going forward. Attendees will gain a clear, policy-informed overview of the challenges ahead and the legal and advocacy strategies that may help protect public health in this rapidly-evolving environment.

Date: December 1, 2025
Time: 12 Noon ET
Venue: Virtual via Zoom
Register here.

Panelists

Elizabeth Kaplan (moderator) (she/her), Director of Health Care Access, Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation
Elizabeth focuses her practice at CHLPI on issues impacting access to care and prevention for HIV, hepatitis C, and other chronic and complex conditions. Prior to joining CHLPI, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey. There, she represented a variety of state agencies, including MassHealth, in institutional reform and other litigation. She also has experience working in a medical-legal partnership, where she provided direct legal services to low-income clients with chronic conditions such as HIV and mental illness. Her work spanned a variety of areas, including legal issues related to Medicare, Medicaid, and the rollout of the Affordable Care Act. Elizabeth clerked for the Hon. Margot Botsford of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. She earned her JD from the University of California, Berkeley Law School, and her BA from Williams College. She is a licensed member of the Massachusetts Bar.

Jose Abrigo (he/him), HIV Project Director, Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund
Jose oversees Lambda Legal’s impact litigation and policy advocacy in the area of HIV at the state level and national level. Prior to joining Lambda, Jose was the Director and Supervising Attorney of HIV and LGBTQ advocacy at Legal Services NYC’s (LSNYC) Manhattan Legal Services, the largest direct legal services provider to HIV and LGBTQ individuals in the nation. At LSNYC he supervised the provision of legal services to low-income LGBTQ+ and HIV+ individuals in administrative hearings, civil, supreme and federal court on issues ranging from discrimination, housing, public benefits, immigration, social security, to name change/identity documents. Jose engages in extensive community organizing with the clients he serves and is a racial justice advocate. Jose has dedicated his entire legal career to serving low-income people of color living with HIV and folks who identify as LGBTQ+. Prior to becoming a lawyer, Jose worked in classical archaeology. He received a dual B.A from UC Berkeley and his J.D from CUNY School of Law.

Michael Elizabeth (they/them), Director of Public Health Policy, Equality Federation
Mike leads Equality Federation’s Public Health Department, which mobilizes the organization’s state partner organizations to leverage their advocacy capacity to influence Public Health policy and ensure effective implementation of those policies, with a focus on HIV and other health issues that disproportionately affect LGBTQ+ communities. They have spent the last 14 years rooted in LGBTQ+ political and community organizing ranging from LGBTQ+ policy work with state and local elected officials in Texas to HIV advocacy fighting against HIV Criminalization laws and for adequate public health funding and culturally competent prevention services. Most recently, Mike was elected as Vice Chair of the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus. Mike is very proud of their role as former President of the Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus, growing the organization to be one of the most diverse and largest membership-driven LGBTQ+ civil rights organizations in the South, which held local elected officials accountable to the LGBTQ community while helping elect pro-LGBTQ+ candidates.

Carl Schmid (he/him), Executive Director, HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute
Mr. Schmid has been a national policy and advocacy leader in the HIV community for over 25 years.  He spent 16 years with The AIDS Institute, serving as its Deputy Executive Director. In December 2019, he formed the HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute, which promotes quality and affordable healthcare for people living with or at risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other serious and chronic health conditions. Mr. Schmid leads advocacy efforts to ensure domestic HIV and hepatitis programs are based on sound public policy and fully funded. He has expertise in healthcare financing systems, including Medicaid and Medicare, and leads efforts to ensure that the Affordable Care Act meets the needs of beneficiaries, including prescription medications. From December 2018 to August 2021 he served as Co-Chair of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA) and Co-Chaired its Ending the HIV Epidemic Subcommittee through June 2023. He currently serves as a consumer representative to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, a member of the NAIC/Consumer Participation Board of Trustees, and Chair of the Leadership Advisory Council for the U.S. Business Action to End HIV. He is a cancer survivor and living with chronic hepatitis B. Mr. Schmid earned a B.A. in Public Affairs and an M.B.A. in International Affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.