As a result of present day HAART chemotherapy for HIV infection, a person diagnosed as HIV-infected in the United States can expect to live an average of 24 years but this comes at a cost.

Over that period, drug costs can be as high as $600,000 with an average annual cost of care of $19,912 with with a range of $11,045 to $22,626.

Total costs are lower for people with less advanced HIV disease. For people with CD4+ T-cell levels under 50, the average annual cost is around $41,000. For people with CD4+ T-cell levels over 500, the average annual cost is around $17,000.

Normally, patients are started on a HAART regimen of efavirenz together with tenofovir and emtricitabine or similar reverse transcriptase inhibitors. The cost of this regimen is about $1,200 per year but when this treatment shows reduced efficacy, more expensive drugs are prescribed.