Nearly 1.2 million Americans get regular treatment for HIV, and Medicaid covers almost half of them – 47 percent. Only 1 percent of Medicaid clients have HIV; their care consumes 2 percent of the Medicaid budget ($5.3 billion). They represent 23 percent of all HIV-infected people in the U.S; not all those infected are receiving treatment.
African-Americans are at particular risk for HIV. Half of Medicaid HIV patients are African-American, and the CDC estimates new HIV infections run six times as high among African-Americans as for white men.
Today’s infographic has more details. Click to see it full size, then share your views in the discussion thread below on the government’s role in treating HIV.
