Average lifetime
cost of HIV tops $600,000

People with HIV can live longer with optimal health care but will pay $618,900 doing so, a new study shows. The report, titled "The Lifetime Cost of Current HIV Care in the United States," shows the results of a computer simulation model to project HIV medical care costs. Information on medical visits and hospitalizations came from the HIV Research Network, a group of primary care sites in the U.S.

The research team, composed of doctors from Partners AIDS Research Center/Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Boston University, analyzed the cost and benefits of modern HIV treatments. They found that the right combination of drugs can prolong life as long as 24 years but at a cost of $2,100 per month on average.

The researchers found that the cost of medications makes up more than 70% of the expense of HIV treatment. There are currently 24 drugs in four different drug classes that were not available in the mid 1990s when combination therapy was introduced. (The Advocate)