Cost and financing of care for persons with HIV disease: an overview.

This article explores the impact of new combination drug therapies on the cost and financing of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) disease. Evidence indicates that the proportion of costs attributable to drugs has increased significantly since the diffusion of new combination drug therapies, and that the proportion of costs attributable to hospital inpatient care has decreased. The absence of timely data is the major difficulty in analyzing the impact of recent changes. Only two studies have examined costs since the diffusion of new combination drug therapies, and there are no recent studies of the insurance status of persons with HIV disease.