Not an easy question to ask, but by recommending that everyone get tested for AIDS so that those at risk don't feel stigmatized how much is this going to cost to the rest of the system?
Under recommendations from the
CDC, everyone from 13 to 64 should be blood-tested as routinely as they are for high cholesterol. That way doctors could detect the disease and start treatment earlier among the 250,000 Americans who have AIDS and don't know it. The other main reason is to remove the stigma attached to high-risk people by having all among roughly 200 million adolescents and adults treated.
CDC concedes it doesn't know how many people would be diagnosed, but it claims that even in low-risk populations, testing would be cost-effective.
Obviously, not everyone will consent to the test or even go to a doctor in the first place.
But at a minimum suggested cost of $15 a test, multiplied by about 200 million and divided by 250,000, that works out to a potential total cost to the health system of $30 billion, or $12,000 for each surprise diagnosis.
Early detection for any disease is essential, but the question still has to be at what cost and whether the cost of screening everyone is higher than the cost of individual embarrassment.