Medicaid Spending on HIV/AIDS
Continues to Increase

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The Medicaid program spent $7.7 billion on HIV/AIDS care in the 2002 fiscal year (FY), an increase over the $6.9 billion spent on HIV/AIDS in FY 2001, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This includes federal and state Medicaid spending. Federal and state Medicaid funding for HIV/AIDS care is expected to climb to $17.2 billion by 2011 without Medicaid reform or changes in federal regulations, CMS said based on actuarial estimates. “We project we will be spending an increasing amount of money on this population even with the current budget crisis in the states and the fiscal concern on the federal  level,” said Glen Stanton, Acting Director for the Disabled, Elderly, Health Programs Group at CMS. Medicaid is the largest provider of HIV/AIDS services in the country, providing care for 50 percent of adults with HIV disease and 90 percent of children with the affliction—about 218,000 people in FY 2002.Nevertheless, HIV/AIDS spending comprises only about three percent of overall Medicaid spending, making it a relatively small part of the Medicaid budget.