The Costs of AIDS in Los Angeles

This article reports on the findings of a study of medical and non-medical expenditures of persons with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) in Los Angeles in 1987 and 1988. Sociodemographic and clinical data as well as information on medical and nonmedical expenditures on 36 persons with AIDS were obtained through patient interviews and review of medical bills. Persons with AIDS required a mean of 1.6 hospitalizations per year and 17 days of in-hospital care. Mean charges for the first 12 months after diagnosis of AIDS were $22,272 for inpatient medical care and $22,850 for outpatient medical care. Overall, medical costs averaged $45,122 per patient per year with almost one-third of these costs devoted to outpatient pharmaceuticals, such as AZT and aerosolized pentamidine. Mean nonmedical costs of care for volunteer services, counselling, and in-kind assistance were $9,276. These results were similar to recently published estimates of medical costs of persons with AIDS. However, our data support changing problems of care for PWAs with increased use of outpatient medical care and pharmaceuticals and decreased use of in-hospital resources.