A whistleblower referral filed with the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alleges several irregularities in the handling of federal HIV treatment funds by a West Virginia contractor, including kickbacks, embezzlement and federal benefits continuing to dead clients.

According to nonprofit Empower Oversight, which helped to file the referral, the state received approximately $5 million in federal Ryan White Part B funds in fiscal year 2025, contracted in part to AIDS Task Force of the Upper Ohio Valley.

The Ryan White Program is a federal program that functions as a payer of last resort for HIV-positive individuals who face cost barriers in obtaining HIV care. It is named after Ryan White, who was 13 when he was diagnosed with AIDS after a blood transfusion in December 1984 and subsequently became the face of public education about the disease.

In a press release, Empower alleges the task force ignored multiple concerns brought by one of their medical case managers including:

• Benefit disbursements to beneficiaries who were deceased — in one case for nearly three years after a documented death, and in another for more than two years after the death was reported to the program;

• Enrollment of beneficiaries for whom no proof of identity, income, or HIV status appears in the system, raising the prospect of fictitious or unverified enrollees drawing federally funded medication benefits;

• Improper billing and potential kickbacks...

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