Health Insurance Coverage

The AIDS Cost and Services Utilization Survey (ACSUS) was a longitudinal study of persons with HIV-related disease. In a combination of personal interviews and abstraction of medical and billing records spanning an 18-month period, information was collected on more than 1,900 HIV-infected adults and adolescents, including approximately 350 women, and on 140 HIV-infected children under 13 years of age.

Schur, C.L., and Berk, M.L.: Health Insurance Coverage of Persons With HIV-Related Illness: Data From the ACSUS Screener. AIDS Cost and Services Utilization Survey (ACSUS) Report, No. 2. AHCPR Publication No. 94-0009. Rockville, MD: Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 1994.

This report deals with health coverage of HIV-positive persons. Coverage, categorized as private, public, or none, is discussed separately for each of three stage-of-illness groups: asymptomatic, HIV-positive; symptomatic, non-AIDS; and AIDS. Data are also examined in terms of respondents' race or ethnicity, gender, and exposure route.

Overall, 53 percent of respondents reported public coverage for their medical care. Another 28 percent were covered by private insurance, and 19 percent had no source of payment other than themselves or their family. Public coverage rose from 37 percent for asymptomatic persons to 50 percent for those who were symptomatic but non-AIDS to 62 percent for persons with AIDS.

To receive a copy of this publication, call 1-800-358-9295 (for callers outside the United States only, 1-410-381-3150); or send your request on a postcard to:

Order Publication No. 94-0009
AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 8547
Silver Spring, MD 20907

Send Questions & Comments to: info@ahrq.gov