Costs of medical care and out-of-pocket expenditures for persons with AIDS in the Boston Health Study.

We examined the cost of health care and out-of-pocket medical expenditures for 189 persons with AIDS at three sites in Massachusetts: an HMO; a public hospital immunodeficiency clinic; and a group practice at a major teaching hospital. The mean cost of care during a four-month reference period was $9,093 +/- $12,683 (mean +/- standard deviation) per patient. Thirty-six percent of the cost was due to hospital care and 40% was due to home health care. Mean out-of-pocket expenditures were $429 +/- $991 (mean +/- standard deviation). Studies that focus on the cost of hospital care may seriously underestimate the medical costs of AIDS.