Chicago Tribune (CT) - WEDNESDAY January 20, 1988 Edition: CHICAGOLAND Section: CHICAGOLAND Page: 1 Word Count: 761
Jane Tanner and Robert Enstad

"Premarital AIDS testing does not fit the definition of providing health care to indigents," said Terrence Hansen, the hospital's executive director.

Under a state law that took effect Jan. 1, a marriage license cannot be issued until a couple have been tested for the AIDS antibody virus, known as human immunodeficiency (HIV). Depending on the hospital, such tests can cost from $12 to $81 and follow-up tests, if needed, can cost hundreds of dollars, a recent survey indicates.

County Hospital has been inundated with requests from couples hoping to be tested for free or for a low fee. The matter was expected to be raised at the Cook County Board meeting Tuesday.

But a policy decision not to offer the tests was made earlier in the day after Hansen met with the hospital's medical director, Agnes Lattimer, and with County Board President George Dunne. They agreed such a program would be too costly and that the hospital could use the money better elsewhere, Hansen said.

That decision, however, will have no bearing on the hospital's regular AIDS testing program. "We bemoan the fact that the state has given us this new requirement, but given us no money to implement it," Hansen said.

Dunne said that the marriage testing was not the kind of care County Hospital should be expected to give. "We're here to provide health care for the medically indigent," he said. "I don't think people who want to get married count as medical indigent.

"If they don't have the money for the marriage license, then maybe they shouldn't be getting married."

David Seibert, the hospital's education coordinator for AIDS services, said that County Hospital has received about 100 calls a day since the law went into effect. "No one else is doing it at low cost or no cost," he said.

It would cost at least $92,000 a year to administer the test for marriage applicants, Hansen said. That figure includes only the cost of materials, not the additional staff and rooms that would be needed, he said.

As part of its regular care, County Hospital administers 50,000 AIDS test a year, with two staff members assigned full time to the job. The marriage testing would double the number of tests, Hansen said.

Lattimer said it costs $15 to $100 to administer an HIV antibody test, depending on the number of secondary tests required. The average statewide cost for the test is $29, though follow-up tests can cost more than $500, according to a recent survey of 182 hospitals by the Illinois Heath Care Cost Containment Council.

To get around the new law, some couples have been investigating the possibility of being married in other states. "We've been getting 8 to 10 calls a day since the first of the year from Illinois people asking about our marriage licenses," said Nancy Principe, clerk of Kenosha County, Wis.

"They ask us right away if we have the AIDS test," she said.

Kenosha County has issued six marriage licenses this year to couples from Illinois, principally from the Waukegan and Zion area. Last year, Principe said, 50 of the 1,174 marriage licenses issued in Kenosha County were for Illinois couples.

Wisconsin does not require an AIDS test or a blood test for venereal diseases for people seeking a marriage license, which must be used within 30 days in the county in which it is issued.

In neighboring Walworth County, Wis., two marriage licenses have been issued this year to Illinois couples, said Jean Eddy, deputy county clerk. Last year there were six such licenses issued through Jan. 19.

"We've had some people who have called from Illinois and asked if we required the AIDS test," said Eddy. "Some have said it takes 30 days to get the test results in Illinois."

If there is a trend of Illinois people deciding to be married in Wisconsin, Eddy said, that might not become apparent until the "marriage season" begins in late spring.

In Rock County, Wis., which also borders Illinois and has the cities of Beloit and Janesville, 39 marriage licenses have been issued this year, a 26 percent increase over that period last year. But County Clerk Gregory Seefeldt said the numbers are too small to be significant. "The period (into 1988) is not long enough to make a comparison," said Seefeldt.

CAPTION: Photo: Terrence Hansen.

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