Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1988. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Chicago Tribune (CT) - TUESDAY January 19, 1988 Edition: SPORTS FINAL Section: CHICAGOLAND Page: 4 Word Count: 386
Jon Van, Science writer
A screening test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) antibodies may cost $12 at some Illinois hospitals and $81 in others. More sophisticated confirmatory tests, used when the initial screening test is positive, may cost from $24 to $167.
The information comes from 182 hospitals across the state that voluntarily responded to the council survey.
Marilyn Plomann, executive director of the council, said most of the hospitals reported that the tests were performed by outside laboratories. Although actual costs of the tests are about the same for most hospitals, their charges to patients vary.
"The situation with AIDS testing is typical of the way hospitals do things," Plomann said. "The amount a hospital charges has little or no relationship to how much it costs to provide the service."
The survey also found that hospital policies vary as to what constitutes a solid positive finding for infection by HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
Some hospitals must have one positive screening test and one positive confirmatory test before announcing positive results to a patient. Others may require two positive results from each type of test before they tell a patient that he or she is infected.
The council survey did not address physician's fees, which are additional and separate from hospital charges for the tests, Plomann said.
Illinois law now requires that all applicants for marriage licenses be tested for HIV infection.
Depending on which hospital is used, on the results of the initial test and on hospital policies of charging for follow-up tests, the testing requirement could cost a couple from $24 to more than $500 in hospital fees, the survey suggests.
The average cost for one screening test is $29, the survey found, and works out to $58 for a couple seeking a marriage license if the couple did not require any follow-up testing.
There is now no handy way for an engaged couple to shop around to find the best bargain in AIDS testing, Plomann said, but the council is changing its rules and hopes that next year it can supply a brochure listing Illinois hospitals along with their test fees.
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