I also have HIV, and HIV care is expensive. Just medication alone with no insurance is $4,900.00 a month. I average about $102,000.00 a year in medical bills if I had no insurance. If it were not for the Ryan White Care Act, I'd be bankrupt a long time ago. Plus, the hospital I use has a charitable fund I can use as well. So my medical costs stay pretty low, but at times even that can get out of hand depending on the procedure being done.
I have private health insurance, that the State of Michigan pays for, through the Ryan White act. So that helps that I do not have to pay that $900 premium every month. I also use a Ryan White food bank. This food bank is like any other food bank, they get donated food food to give to people in need. The difference though, is the Ryan White pantry gives out fresh food, as most pantries give out close-dated to outdated products. Also the Ryan White pantry gives out better quality food for the nutrition that we need with HIV. We usually get about 2 weeks worth of food there. We always get a gallon of milk, 2 dozen of eggs (which I give to my neighbor because we don't use eggs often), 2 pounds of burger, one or two other kinds of meat (anywhere from bacon to entire whole turkeys, to buffalo burger). So that helps on the food bill. I get gas cards to get to my doctor appointments, so I save money on gas. if I need help, we get help with housing and utility bills. I have only used that help about 3 times in 15 years. So I use every resource I can use if I need it. Most of these resources are through a medical case manager.
I know of other health related conditions that offer similar services. So if you do not have a medical case manager / social worker, you too could be missing out on valuable resources that you may be able to use.