"Also, the AIDS drugs, though expensive, forestall more costly inpatient hospital stays and crisis treatments for HIV patients, health care providers, advocates and some lawmakers said.

They predicted that if free drugs for low-income patients are cut, huge bills eventually will land on the state's Medicaid program – as well as on hospital districts, such as the Parkland Hospital and Health System, which are already financially distressed.

"I hope we don't cut people's medicines off and things like that," said the House's chief budget writer, Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie. "That could be a long-term, bigger cost if we cut that.""