Economic Impact

An estimated $147,000 is spent on the whole hospital care of each AIDS patient.

A study of the economic costs of AIDS estimated that in 1984 each AIDS patient was admitted to a hospital an average of one.7 times for an average length of hospitalization of 13.0 days. The average charge per hospital day was $740. The average outpatient charge was estimated at $2,015 for each AIDS case in 1984.

The direct economic costs of AIDS in 1985 have been estimated at a total of $836.5 million, including $517.4 million in personal medical care costs & $319.1 million in non-personal costs (research, blood screening, schooling & prevention services).

The total economic impact of the first ten,000 cases of AIDS in the U.S. has been estimated at $6.3 billion, including $1.4 billion on direct hospitalization expenses, $189 million in lost wages due to disability & $4.6 billion in lost earnings from premature death.

The indirect economic costs of AIDS in 1985 were estimated at $3,285.6 million, including $205.7 million in morbidity costs (value of productivity losses due to disease & disability) & $3,079.0 million in mortality costs (value of earnings lost due of premature death).