Medicare-aged patients and those as young as 15 may soon face mandatory HIV screening if CMS and other health plans adopt the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s (USPSTF’s) latest recommendation.
 
In its finalized proposal, the USPSTF recommends patients from age 15 to 65 get a one-time mandatory screening for human immunodeficiency virus.  Those screenings also apply to adults older than 65 and teens younger 15 if they are at a higher risk for infection and all pregnant women regardless of their HIV status. Previous USPSTF guidance recommended only high-risk patients, regardless of age, and pregnant women be tested.
 
Before now, the agency was concerned that expanding testing to encompass everyone from pubescents on up could generate depression due to the social stigma for those who discover they are infected or from false-positive test results.  
 
“Nearly a quarter of people with HIV don’t know that they have it, and they’re missing out on a chance to take control of their disease,” said USPSTF member Douglas Owens, M.D., in the agency’s April 30 press release. “Universal screening will help identify more people with HIV, allowing them to start combined antiretroviral therapy earlier and live healthier and longer lives.”
 
But even though long-term antiretroviral drugs may carry increased cardiovascular problems among others, the reward and benefits for public health far outweighed the risks, Virginia Moyer, M.D., USPSTF chairwoman, told the Los Angeles Times.