Next time you see your doctor, don’t be surprised if she pulls out an HIV test as part of your regular checkup. Earlier this week, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force—an independent panel of medical experts who set guidelines concerning health screenings—announced that all adults between the ages of 15 and 65 should be routinely tested for HIV. It’s a departure from the Task Force’s previous HIV guidelines, released in 2005, which advised that only people in high-risk groups (for example, men who have sex with men) be tested regularly.
Why the ramped-up recommendation? It has to do with the fact that treating HIV is most effective early in the course of the disease, when a person is more likely to be asymptomatic, says Douglas K.Owens, MD, professor of medicine at Stanford University and a member of the Task Force. “Starting antiviral medication early, before HIV has caused damage, can keep a person healthy for years and increase survival rates,” says Owens. The best way to catch HIV when there are no symptoms is with blanket, routine screening, he says. Another benefit of early detection: taking antiviral meds early on can reduce the amount of virus in a person’s body. That makes it less likely the disease will be transmitted, thus lowering the number of new infections per year—which is currently at about 50,000 in the United
States, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
The Task Force suggests that all adults undergo a minimum one-time screening, and all pregnant women should be tested as well, since HIV transmission from mom to baby can be prevented with meds. How often you need to be re-screened, however, depends on your health history and if you have any risk factors associated with the disease, such as IV drug use or intimate contact with someone with HIV. It’s something to discuss with your doctor, who can help you determine the frequency with which you should be tested.
Oh, and don’t worry about the test depleting your wallet. If you already have insurance, your insurer will pick up the cost without any copay or lab fee. Because HIV testing is now a recommended preventive screening, it is part of the constellation of other preventive exams that are automatically covered under the Affordable Care Act, says Joanne Peters, a spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services.
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