HIV infection treatment costs under Medicaid in Michigan

The Michigan Medicaid Program payment records generated in the period 1985-89 by 783 persons were analyzed for services related to human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. Other data from death records and the Michigan AIDS Surveillance Registry were available for a subset of those persons. The average monthly payment in 1989 dollars for HIV-related services was $1,302.57. Services determined to be unrelated to HIV infection accounted for 12.5 percent of the total amount for health care received and another 2.5 percent was questionable. The average monthly expenditure for men was roughly twice that for women. The discrepancy did not exist among persons identified in the AIDS Surveillance Registry. Sex differences ceased to exist when Medicaid eligibility (disability versus Aid to Families with Dependent Children) was controlled for by analysis of variance. There were no significant differences between payments to those infected through male-to-male sexual contact and those infected through intravenous drug use. Payments for HIV treatments rose with age to about 40 years, and declined slightly among older adults. The sharpest rise was for those ages 19-25 years and 26-35 years. Large sex differences existed among those who received zidovudine (AZT), 61.4 percent of the men and 19.1 percent of the women. Controlling for Medicaid eligibility moderated those differences, but they remained statistically significant. Differences in zidovudine usage were not found between men and women in the subset identified in the AIDS Surveillance Registry nor among persons infected through male-to-male sexual contact and intravenous drug use.